By Psalm Mishael Taruc

The federal government announced they would reduce the study permits issued to international students from 305,900 this year to 155,000 in 2026—a 49 per cent decrease, according to the 2025 budget presented on Nov. 4.

Aligning with the goal of bringing immigration back to “sustainable” levels, Ottawa plans to lower the number of temporary residents from 6.5 per cent of Canada’s total population to 5 per cent by 2026.

Universities and colleges will take a hit with the new policy, as they lose funding from international students’ tuition fees, said Usha George, the former academic director of the Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement.

George added that some institutions’ overdependence on international admissions is not a good way to operate “but that used to be the case.”

In 2024, the federal government decreased the cap on international student permits by 35 per cent compared to 2023 according to the Government of Canada.

As a result, some colleges had to close certain programs created primarily to cater to students from abroad, George said.

Third-year creative industries student Yeganeh Shajari at Toronto Metropolian University (TMU), expressed empathy for prospective students who planned their lives around studying in Canada, although she understood why the reduction was made.

Shajari, an international student from Iran, said the influx of students coming into Toronto put a strain on the city’s resources, particularly on housing.

“Where are we [international students] going?,” she said. “We [international students] don’t have enough housing and stuff.”

Less students coming in from overseas countries in the next three years does not guarantee that affordability and finding jobs will become easier for the international students already here, said George.

The first time Kanhchana Ly, a first-year PhD student from Cambodia, heard about the changes, she hoped she would not be affected, as she is in the process of extending her study permit.

For prospective students, Ly said, “It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”

Liesl Korompis, a third-year media production student from Indonesia, said she is already struggling to find community among international students. The thought of “having even less of that…makes me sad,” she said.

George says attitudes towards immigration in the last couple of years have “gone sour,” with more people saying that Canada should stop letting in too many immigrants.

“Canada used to be a pro immigration country, but in recent times, we hear that people do not want more immigrants to come,” said George.

Regardless, George urged to empathize with international students who are “feeling the pinch of all of these policies.”

“Sometimes the confusion is palpable, and [international students] also don’t know where they go from here,” she said.

TMU international students who spoke with The Eyeopener said diversity and language were among the reasons why they came to Canada.

Korompis said she came here to express herself more freely and form her own identity outside the more traditional borders of her country.

“There were parts of my identity that I wasn’t allowed to explore…and I wanted to go to a place that was more open about those things,” said Korompis.

Having English as an official language was non-negotiable when they chose where to pursue higher education, making Canada an enticing option, Shajari and Ly said.

Canada welcomed 45,380 international students in August just before the beginning of the fall term, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, bringing the total number of study permit holders to over 800,000.

In an email statement to The Eye, the International Student Enrolment, Education & Inclusion (ISSEI) office said “TMU’s international student population is less than 10 per cent of its overall student population.”

“Despite the planned decrease, TMU will continue to align enrolment strategies with our core values of providing a high-quality education and enriching student experience for both domestic and international students,” the statement read.