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In a decision that will impact applicants from India — and at a time when diplomatic ties between the two countries are strained — Canada ended its popular, fast-track student visa programme with effect from Friday.
The Student Direct Stream (SDS) programme was launched in 2018 to provide faster processing for eligible post-secondary students from 14 countries, including India. Besides a shorter processing time, the approval rates were also higher under the programme.
According to official estimates, 60 per cent of the 4 lakh Indian students who sought to study in Canada in 2023 applied under the SDS programme. Under SDS, the approval rate for Indian students was consistently higher, breaching 70 per cent in 2023. In contrast, those applying through the regular route had approval rates as low as 10 per cent.
Announcing the end of the programme on Friday, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said: “Canada’s goal is to strengthen programme integrity, address student vulnerability, and give all students equal and fair access to the application process, as well as a positive academic experience. To meet this commitment, the Student Direct Stream (SDS)… ended as of 2 pm today… Canada is committed to giving all international students equal and fair access to the application process for study permits.”
The IRCC said prospective students can still apply through the regular study permit route, for which guaranteed investment certificates are accepted as proof of financial support.
Under the SDS programme, students could secure study permits in just 20 working days, even as processing times under the standard route often extend to around eight weeks for Indian applicants.
India is Canada’s largest source country of foreign students with an estimated 4.27 lakh Indian students studying there in 2023.
The SDS programme was available to residents of Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vietnam.
Calling it a big blow to students aspiring to study in Canada, Gurpreet Singh, who has been running a visa consultancy in Kapurthala for the last 10 years, said all the students from his area had been taking the SDS route ever since it was introduced. “That’s the case with most of the students from the rest of Punjab as well,” he said.
The Canadian government said it was looking to reduce the number of temporary residents in the country, after hosting a record 8 lakh study permit holders last year, with the need to alleviate pressures on housing and services. As part of its 2024 policy shifts, the government set a cap of 437,000 new study permits for 2025, covering all levels of education, including post-graduate programmes.
In September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had announced plans to curb inflow of students. “We’re granting 35 per cent fewer international student permits this year. And next year, that number’s going down by another 10 per cent… Immigration is an advantage for our economy — but when bad actors abuse the system and take advantage of students, we crack down,” he had said in a post on X.
Further tightening measures include tougher language and academic benchmarks for students aiming to qualify for the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP), limited work permits for spouses of international students, and higher financial proof requirements. Additionally, the Canadian government is reducing the availability of multiple-entry visas, which have been commonly used by international students to enter and exit Canada during their study periods.
