Summary
- Canada received a record number of international students in recent years. However, one unintended consequence was that it fuelled a housing crisis.
- Canada benefitted massively in ‘brain gain’ during all these years, as international students always bring new ideas and energy that help economic growth.
- Ultimately, the federal government had to intervene and cut down the visa approvals of international students.
Canada has been in the news for quite some time. Many of the news stories were about rising unemployment, the housing crisis, rising unemployment and issues related to higher education and international students.
Many of these issues are interrelated in a number of ways. Every year, Canada welcomes hundreds of thousands of international students who come to study in its leading universities and colleges.
Many of them want to stay here for better living conditions and an opportunity to make a good career.
Everything was going perfectly alright for these international students until the end of 2023.
Suddenly, one after another, government interventions in policies started jolting the boat. By 2024, it was quite clear that Canadian universities, colleges and their students were in deep trouble.
The number of international students started growing faster from 2020. For over three years, international students continued to come to different colleges and universities.
However, the sudden drop came in early 2024 when the federal government put a quota on provinces to reduce the intake of international students in Canada.
Why Did the Housing Crisis Hit Canada?
Canada received a record number of international students in recent years. However, one unintended consequence was that it fuelled a housing crisis.
Canada has had a huge housing backlog for a long time. The country is trying to resolve the issues by providing incentives to industry, but there are still many factors that are fuelling this crisis.
High immigration levels from 2020 onwards largely created affordability problems in Canada, and the housing crisis played a huge role in it.
Rising inflation and crippling housing rents put extraordinary political pressure on the Trudeau government to restrict immigration and the arrival of international students.
Ultimately, the federal government had to intervene and cut down the visa approvals of international students.
How Did the Job Crisis Get out of Control?
Canada benefitted massively in ‘brain gain’ during all these years, as international students always bring new ideas and energy that help economic growth.
Nevertheless, by 2024, many started blaming high immigration levels and the arrival of international students for the job crisis in the country.
Fast forward to 2025; the situation continues to remain hopeless for thousands of international students in Canada who are unable to find work in their respective fields.
So what do they do to survive? They do odd jobs and continue to apply for high-paying jobs related to their degrees.
Yet this is a brutal countdown, as they have to find employment in their fields to stay in Canada within a specified number of months. They can stay in Canada until their work permit expires, which they get after completing their degrees and diplomas.
Canada will remain a top destination for international students
Recent studies show that the visa approval rate of Canada declined in 2024 and 2025, but Canada will remain one of the best places to study. There is a reason behind this assessment.
Firstly, by 2024, there were already over a million international students in Canada. While many of them are going back to their home countries, not everybody will go back.
Secondly, despite a significant drop in the arrival of new international students, Canada is among the top four international destinations for international students, along with the US, the UK and Australia.
Conclusion
There are several other factors that will keep Canada attractive to international students. Some of them are high quality of education, welcoming multicultural society, high demand of professionals, small population and advanced economy, etc.
Canada is a blessed country. It has abundant natural resources that are more than enough for its small population. All of these facts are more than enough to attract bright, talented and young people from all over the world.