Canada Sees 86% Drop in Study Permits for Indians Amid Diplomatic Tensions

The number of study permits Canada issued to Indian students plummeted 86% in the final quarter of 2023, reflecting fallout from a diplomatic dispute over the murder of a Sikh militant in Canada and the subsequent expulsion of Canadian diplomats from India.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller told Reuters in an interview that the decline, from 108,940 permits in the prior quarter to just 14,910, is unlikely to rebound soon.

Diplomatic tensions erupted after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in June that there was evidence connecting Indian agents to the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, Miller said. Those tensions are likely to weigh on the numbers going forward.

India's ejection of Canadian diplomats in October further crippled permit processing, Miller said, while a spokeswoman for the minister noted that many Indian students are now choosing to study elsewhere. Our relationship with India has really halved our ability to process a lot of applications from India," Miller said.

In October, Canada was forced to pull 41 diplomats, or two-thirds of its staff, out of India on orders from New Delhi. In addition, the dispute has prompted Indian students to seek to study in other countries, a spokeswoman for the minister said. Indians have formed the largest group of international students in Canada in recent years, with more than 41% - or 225,835 - of all permits going to them in 2022.

I can't tell you about how the diplomatic relationship will evolve, particularly if police were to lay charges, Miller said. It's not something that I see any light at the end of the tunnel on. Canada continues to be a favored destination for international students, largely due to the relative ease of obtaining work permits after completing courses. The government has expressed its intention to review and enhance the postgraduate work permit program, considering it 'very generous,' while also emphasizing a commitment to clamp down on 'fly-by-night' universities referred to as designated learning institutes.