Data from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shows that over 1 million international students held valid Canadian study permits in 2023, marking a 29% increase from the previous year.
A study permit is a Canadian government document that allows foreign nationals to study at designated learning institutions (DLIs) in Canada.
The report also highlighted that eight of Canada’s 10 fastest-growing international student populations were from African countries.
In a separate report, MPOWER Financing disclosed that the average acceptance rate for African students was below 50%, compared to over 75% for students from other regions.
Recall the Canadian government earlier this year, implemented a temporary two-year cap on the admission of international students to manage growth.
This cap was projected to limit approved study permits to around 360,000 in 2024, representing a 35% decline compared to 2023.
In the 2024 report, West Africa, home to major sending countries like Nigeria, recorded the second-lowest undergraduate acceptance rates at approximately 30%. However, postgraduate acceptance rates were notably higher, ranking third at around 45%.
The IRCC data indicates that 292,676 study permit applications were processed in the first half of 2024, a 32% decrease compared to 433,097 during the same period in 2023.
Between January and September 2024, the following African countries had the highest number of Canadian study permit applications, according to IRCC data;
| Rank | Country | Applications |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Nigeria |
44776 |
|
2 |
Ghana |
23763 |
|
3 |
Rep of Guinea |
21876 |
|
4 |
Algeria |
18557 |
|
5 |
Cameroon |
12084 |
|
6 |
Cote D’Ivoire |
7522 |
|
7 |
DR Congo |
6891 |
|
8 |
Morocco |
5308 |
|
9 |
Rwanda |
4358 |
|
10 |
Tunisia |
2994 |
The latest IRCC updates show that India accounted for 49% of all study permits approved in the first half of 2024, maintaining a similar proportion to previous years.
Among the top ten markets by volume of approvals, significant declines were observed in 2024 for Nigeria (-72%), Nepal (-76%), the Philippines (-64.6%), Mexico (-55.1%), and Iran (-44.9%).
On a positive note, approval rates saw notable increases for students from Ghana (+34.6%), Guinea (+37%), and China (+5.2%), with China remaining the second-largest source by volume
