Budget 2025 Cuts International Student Permits by 49%, Reduces Immigration Funding

The Liberal government’s newly released budget is proposing several cuts to Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to realize 15 percent savings over the next three fiscal years.

Tabled on Nov. 4, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s budget aims to implement a 49 percent reduction in the issuance of international student permits for 2026, alongside a 43 percent decrease in the number of temporary residents permitted entry into Canada.

The government previously green-lighted 305,900 foreign students annually from this year through to 2027, but under the new budget this will now be cut to 155,000 for next year and 150,000 in 2027 and 2028.

Canada plans to accept 385,000 temporary residents next year and 370,000 in each of the subsequent two years, a reduction from this year’s total of 673,650. However, 370,00 represents an increase from the Justin Trudeau-era permanent residence goal of 365,000 per year by 2027.

IRCC is expected to see a budget cut of approximately $282 million for the fiscal year 2026-2027, which will increase to a reduction of $546.9 million for 2027-2028, $619.1 million for 2028-2029, and $613.5 million for 2029-2030.

In addition to cuts to the government’s Interim Housing Assistant Program for asylum seekers, there are limitations imposed on access to Canada’s Settlement Program “to implement limits to program eligibility for economic immigrants.”

The budget also introduces a “modest” co-payment fee for medical treatments for asylum seekers, which includes medications, dental care, and other health services such as eye care. The funding allocated for this care is set to decrease from $598 million in 2025-2026 to $411 million in 2026-2027.

The budget also says IRCC will cut costs by upgrading its technology, in-housing consultancy services, and improving overall staffing and task efficiency.

Temporary residents climbed from representing 3.3 percent of Canada’s population in 2018 to 7.5 percent by last year, which the budget describes as having put unsustainable pressure on Canada’s housing, health care, and education systems.

The objective of 385,000 permanent residents is about 25 percent lower than the target proposed in Ottawa’s 2024 immigration plan, which allocated approximately 516,000 temporary residents next year.

Along with the cuts to temporary resident allowances and foreign students, the budget includes various policies aiming to attract highly skilled foreign workers, including American H-1B visa holders. It also commits up to $1.7 billion to attract 1,000 high-level international researchers to Canada over the next 13 years as part of Canada’s new Tri-Agency Accelerated Research Chairs Initiative.

Ottawa also said it will issue permanent residency to 33,000 holders of work permits in 2026 and 2027, as well as a program to automatically give permanent residency to refugees in the next two years at a cost of $120 million over the coming four years.

“Granting Protected Persons in Canada, in addition to Levels Plan targets, over the next two years will uphold Canada’s international humanitarian obligations and provide them with greater stability and access to opportunities in Canada,” the budget reads.

No specific numbers were issued regarding Canada’s temporary foreign worker program. An Abacus Data poll released in early September of this year found that 44 percent of Canadians polled support Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s proposal to end the program, while 30 percent say the program should be maintained.

The upcoming vote on the budget is scheduled for Nov. 17. The Tories and Bloc Québécois have said they won’t support the budget in its current form, while the NDP said it’s still considering whether to support it.

The minority Liberal government is two votes short of being able to pass the budget, and will require support from the Bloc, the Conservatives, or the NDP to pass. Failure to secure the needed votes would be a confidence matter and trigger an early election.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the rate of reduction in the issuance of international student permits. The Epoch Times regrets the error.