Fewer Indian students are applying to come to Canada for post-secondary education, and the high cost of living and a tough job market may be driving factors, according to a new report.
ApplyBoard, an Ontario-based educational reach company that helps international students apply for post-secondary studies, found that in the latter half of 2023, the demand for Indian education in Canada saw a significant decline.
In 2022, the federal government processed nearly 146,000 new student permit applications from Indian nationals between July and October, according to ApplyBoard’s analysis, which utilized Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data.
In 2023, that number dropped by 41% as fewer than 87,000 applications were processed during the same time period.
ApplyBoard notes the drop was most significant between August and October 2023, which saw a 47% decrease in applications compared to the same time in 2022.
This was particularly “surprising,” noted ApplyBoard, because the number of applications processed in the first half of 2023 (January to June) had seen a 25% year-over-year increase.
ApplyBoard highlights there could be several reasons behind this trend. The company referred to reporting by Better Dwelling, Canada’s largest independent housing news outlet, which noted that more Indian students were posing about hardships in Canada on social media, particularly noting the high cost of living and lack of employment opportunities.
ApplyBoard conducted its own analysis and found that between April and August 2023, the number of articles published in prominent Indian media outlets about housing in Canada increased five times compared to the same period in 2023.
Content flagged as “negative” also rose 12 to 30% and tended to highlight the financial hardships of Indian students and unemployment challenges, states ApplyBoard.
The report also examined study permit approval rates between January and September over the past seven years. Between 2016 and 2019, the student permit approval rate for Indian students ranged between 59.4% and 65.8%.
The approval rate dropped to 40.1% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 2023 saw the highest study permit approval rate since 2016, with nearly 70% of applications being greenlit.
“Because of the significant jump in study permit approval rates for Indian students this year, study permit approval volumes have continued to climb,” noted ApplyBoard.
“In fact, 32,000 more Indian students were approved to study in Canada from January to September [2023] than last despite the drop in applications processed.”
ApplyBoard projects that between 200,000 and 210,000 Indian students will be approved to study in Canada in 2023, which is a 5–8% increase from 2022.
“In fact, 32,000 more Indian students were approved to study in Canada from January to September this year than last despite the drop in applications processed,” states the report.
Indian students aren’t necessarily flocking to other English-speaking countries to study either, according to ApplyBoard.
“While the US and particularly Australia did see some growth over the period in question, it wasn’t nearly enough to account for Canada’s decline,” states the report, adding that the UK is seeing a drop in demand from Indian students due to its decision to ban most international students from bringing dependents with them to the country.
Canada also appears to be facing a larger issue of residents choosing to leave the country. Recent data from Statistics Canada found that in the third quarter of 2023, the country experienced the fourth-largest departure of its residents in the past 73 years. More than 32,000 people left the country, which is a 3% increase in emigration.
Better Dwelling provided further insight into this trend, noting that Canada is facing difficulty attracting immigrants.
“In short, Canada is being run like a dodgy, fly-by-night credit card company. Its operators don’t really care about losing clients, as long as the inflow of new ones outpaces the old ones,” noted the publication in an article published in December 2023.
“At a certain point though, a reputation develops and turns into a warning for new clients.”
Daily Hive has reached out to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for comment regarding ApplyBoard’s report.
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