40% Canada Student Visa Applications From India Rejected

Nearly 40% of the Canada study permit applications from India faced rejection from the visa officers in 2023. This has been the highest refusal rate of the year among all countries. The visa applications were rejected due to reasons categorized as 'unspecified' or 'other', according to the Investigative Journalism Foundation, a non-profit media organization in Canada.

The number of Canada student visa holders has tripled in the past decade, reaching nearly 900,000 in 2023 from 300,000 in 2013. India is a major international student contributor in Canada, with 320,000 active study permits granted by December 2023.

The Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association suggested that overseas education agents should fall under the provincial regulation, and Designated Learning Institutions (DLI) should take responsibility for the activity of these agents. They proposed that the DLIs should employ overseas agents directly and disclose their identity.

Several applicants find studying in Canada as a pathway for their work assurance and permanent residency in Canada. This is why the Canadian government has recently introduced regulations which made it financially difficult for international students to pursue higher education in Canada. This is done to reduce the ability of the overseas education agents who allure international students in paying high fees to get a permanent residency in Canada.

With the declining provincial funding, the higher educational institutes in Canada leaned towards international students as a source of revenue generation. But the increasing number of students made employers fill low paying positions across different industries with these students. Due to the ongoing crisis of affordable house and skyrocketing cost of living, several international students are facing difficulty to find a job and shelter. These students are left with relying on food banks and a hard lifestyle.

Public colleges observed higher rejection rates as compared to public universities in Canada. The private institutions experienced even higher rejection rates. Conestoga College, being the college with the highest volume of study permit applications in Canada approved 51% out of 61,612 applications. St. Clair College and Niagara College (main campuses) has approval rates of 42% and 42.6% respectively.

International students are a great revenue generator, as they can pay up to 5 times more tuition fees than domestic students in Canada. However, half of the international students accepted by the educational institutions in Canada face rejections from visa officers, according to a recent analysis conducted by the Toronto Star.

Earl Blaney, education agent and policy researcher has raised concerns about the strain of the immigration system due to a high refusal rate of Canada study permit applications. Previously, the agents were directly contracted by the DLIs, but now a large scale of recruitment is done through online platforms, associated by numerous sub-agents.

While the institutions focus on the candidate's eligibility for the chosen program, sub-agents prepare the applications to meet the immigration requirements. As the agents aim to maximize their revenue, therefore, this approach leads to a rise in the low-quality applications submitted. Despite the high refusal rate due to the lack of communication, the institutes in Canada are still into this mass application approach. Eventually, this approach ensures more student enrollment, regardless of the rejection percentage, keeping the higher education institutes in benefit.