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Last year, Canada turned away a record number of foreign workers, international students, and tourists. According to data obtained by the Toronto Star, one of Canada’s largest online news websites, immigration officials rejected 2,359,157 or 50 per cent of temporary resident applications in 2024, up from 1,846,180 or 35 per cent the year before.
The rejection rate, which includes work permits, student permits, and visiting visas, reached its highest point since 2019, prior to the pandemic.
Among the three subgroups, 1.95 million, or 54% of applicants for visitor visas, were rejected last year, up from 40% in 2023; 290,317, or 52%, of applicants for study permits, up from 38%; and 115,549, or 22%, of those who applied for permission to work in Canada, down slightly from 23%.
In response to intense public criticism regarding the shortage of affordable accommodation and the post-pandemic rise in living expenses, the federal government has set ambitious goals to reduce the number of temporary residents in the nation.
In 2025, 2026, and 2027, the number of new permanent residents was cut by 20% to 395,000, 380,000, and 365,000, respectively.
Canada has attempted to restrict new immigration while relying on current migrants to voluntarily depart when their legal permits expire, with some of them transferring to permanent residence under qualified programs, to curb the country’s rapidly growing number of temporary residents.
However, according to Toronto Star, immigration data appears to show a different story when it comes to showing the door to migrants who are already here.
By submitting for what is known as a visitor record, migrants whose temporary resident status is about to expire might prolong their legal status. They are legally permitted to stay here, but they are not permitted to work or pursue education.
The number of applications for visitor records nearly doubled from 196,965 in 2019 to 389,254 in 2024, according to data from the Immigration Department. The percentage of refusals was approximately 5%. Only 321,277 temporary residents received extensions last year, a modest decrease from the 333,672 given in 2023.
While refusals of temporary immigration to Canada have increased, visitor record approvals have also remained high. A visitor record application now costs $100, and the current processing time is 119 days.
If you want to extend your stay in Canada as a visitor (stay in Canada longer), you need to apply for a visitor record. A visitor record is not a visa. A visitor record is a document that allows you to stay in Canada longer as a visitor, a worker authorized to work without a work permit in Canada or a student authorized to study without a study permit in Canada and includes a new expiry date. That’s the new date that you must leave Canada by.
Canada is not the only country witnessing a dip in student enrollments. In 2024, Canada had a 46% decrease in applications to 469,000, compared to 868,000 in 2023. Australia experienced a 36% decline in applications processed to 176,000 from 390,000, while the UK witnessed a 16% drop to 294,000 from 351,000, and so on. The United States had an 11% drop to 322,000 from 699,000.
Sanjay Laul, Founder of MSM Group, said, “Policy changes across major study destinations have not only impacted students but also significantly affected the financial health of institutions. Reduced international enrollments are translating into lower revenues and shrinking contributions to local economies. For instance, international students added CAD 22 billion to Canada’s economy in 2022—a figure projected to decline sharply this year. Additionally, many countries depend on international graduates to address critical labour shortages in STEM and healthcare sectors. Continued enrollment declines risk exacerbating these skill gaps further.”
Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/business/investing-abroad-canada-study-permits-work-visas-rejections-at-record-high-levels-3788223/
