Canada reveals breakdown of study permit allocation by province, shares further details on PALs

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has released the provincial breakdown of its 2025 study permit allocation, outlining how many international students each province is expected to welcome, and has shared further details on the Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL) requirement.

According to the federal government, 437,000 study permits are projected to be issued in 2025, reflecting a 10% decrease compared to 2024.

To help implement this cap, IRCC introduced Provincial Attestation Letters (PALs).

Today, the department released a more detailed breakdown of how study permits will be issued in 2025, breaking it down according to student categories and those that require PALs (and those that are exempt from the PAL requirement).

As can be seen in this table, the total number of study permits issued to graduate degree students will be 73,282. This includes those students pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree.

That means IRCC has reserved 16.77% of all study permits being issued in 2025 to graduate degree students.

Note: On September 18, 2024, the government announced that it would be reserving approximately 12% of allocation spaces for master’s and doctoral students.

That leaves 242,994 expected study permits to be issued to other students requiring PALs. This would include post-secondary study permit applicants, or those studying in non-degree granting graduate programs (for example, certificate programs and graduate diplomas).

The department has also gone one step further by sharing the maximum number of study permit applications that will be processed per province or territory for students required to submit a PAL or TAL with their study permit application.

This means that IRCC will process a maximum of 550,162 study permit applications for students that are required to submit a PAL or TAL with their study permit applications.

The department expects the allocations to result in the targeted number of study permits issued as per the caps, based on the average approval rate for each province and territory in 2023 and 2024.

New PAL Requirements implemented

On September 18, 2024, IRCC announced that master's and doctoral students will be required to submit PAL letters (previously, master's and doctoral students had been exempt from the PAL requirement).

The department has confirmed that this new requirement is in effect as of January 24, 2025.

It also announced a new exemption: Exchange students will join the group that do not need to submit a PAL or TAL.

Other groups exempted from PAL or TAL requirements include

• primary and secondary (kindergarten to grade 12) students;

• certain Government of Canada priority groups and vulnerable cohorts; and

• existing study permit holders applying for an extension at the same designated learning institution (DLI) and at the same level of study.

Background

The cap on study permit applications supports the federal government's objective to reduce the number of temporary residents as a percentage of Canada's population.

The most recent Immigration Levels Plan 2025-2027, announced in October 2024, was the first to include targets for temporary resident levels, including net new study permit holders and net new work permit holders under the International Mobility Program (IMP).

The cap on study permit applications helps support the target of 305,900 arrivals for students in 2025, under the Plan.

The lowered target of admissions for international students, along with new restrictions on family open work permits and tightened requirements for Post Graduation Work Permit (PGWP), is expected to contribute to a planned reduction in arrivals of foreign nationals under the IMP.

The target for admissions under the IMP is 285,750 for 2025, but only 128,700 for 2026.

Note: Immigration levels for 2026 are notional targets, and may be adjusted in next Immigration Levels Plan.

Soure: cicnews