Canada was once a dream destination for Indian students. Is that changing?

Tighter rules, rising costs and visa risks are forcing Indian students to rethink studying in Canada. Tighter rules, rising costs and visa risks are forcing Indian students to rethink studying in Canada.

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Tighter rules, rising costs and visa risks are forcing Indian students to rethink studying in Canada.

At an overseas education consultancy in the Indian capital, Delhi, students sit with their parents, flipping through brochures from universities in Italy, Germany and Australia.

But one destination, once the top choice, is now largely absent.

“Until 2023, most of our applications were for Canada,” says Shobhit Anand, who runs the consultancy, which helps students navigate the admission process, including visa applications.

Now, he says they have seen a drop of nearly 80%.

“People don’t want to apply to Canada anymore. We are also seeing a very high visa rejection rate.”

According to a report submitted by Canada’s auditor general to parliament last month, the share of Indians in the country’s incoming international student population was just 8.1% in September 2025 - a sharp drop from 51.6% in 2023.

There are a number of reasons: visa and immigration restrictions, high living costs and, in 2023, a diplomatic crisis that damaged ties between the two countries (the situation is better now).

For years, Canada held a strong appeal for middle-class Indian families. Its private colleges offered a seemingly reliable pathway - even for average students - to study abroad and eventually settle there.

The route was mostly straightforward: enrol in a two-or three-year vocational course, find a job after graduation and, within a few years, apply for permanent residency. The process typically took around five years, experts say.

The shift has been driven by a mix of policy changes and economic pressures.

In early 2024, Canada announced a two-year restriction on how many international students could be admitted to its undergraduate and diploma programmes - capping it at around 350,000 study permits per year (postgraduate courses were unaffected).

This was a big blow for many Indian students.

At the same time, living costs surged and jobs became harder to find. Rents climbed sharply across major cities, while financial requirements tightened.

The Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) - proof of funds required to study and live in Canada - was doubled from C$10,000 ($7,227; £5,378) to more than C$20,000 in 2024.

“For many families, securing that amount is difficult - and with the risk of visa rejection, they hesitate,” says Sushil Sukhwani of consultancy Edwise Overseas Education. “That became a major barrier.”

As consultants note, getting a study visa has also become harder.

Study permit rejections rose from 38% in 2023 to 52% in 2024 in Canada, according