Toronto: Canada is looking to transition to getting more graduate international students into the country instead of the previous reliance on undergraduates and even those enrolling for certificate courses, according to its immigration department.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC ) said, in a post on Thursday, that it is focused on a “shift towards university-level study”.
As overall international student admissions decrease, the proportion of students arriving to study at universities is increasing, it said, adding that university students accounted for 40% of new study permit holders in 2025, up from 30% in 2024.
The “greater focus on graduate students”, it claimed, had resulted in master’s and doctoral students accounting for 21% of new study permits issued between January and July this year, as against 12% in 2025.
It said it was providing “simpler pathways” for graduate students. “To attract more students at the master’s and PhD levels, we introduced 2-week processing for new PhD students and exempted master’s and doctoral students from the provincial or territorial attestation letter requirement,” it noted.
“We expect this trend to continue as we introduce new measures directed at graduate students and continue to attract talented students at the master’s and PhD levels,” it said.
{{/usCountry}}“We expect this trend to continue as we introduce new measures directed at graduate students and continue to attract talented students at the master’s and PhD levels,” it said.
{{/usCountry}}Stating that the “path forward is clear”, IRCC stressed that Canada will “continue to welcome a sustainable number of talented international students” to its institutions while “creating targeted opportunities to retain the skilled graduates who can help grow our economy and strengthen our public services”.
IRCC stated it was looking at “a more targeted and sustainable International Student Program” and in recent years, had taken action to reduce the overall number of international students in Canada “while refocusing the program on attracting the very best students”.
Overall, there were 28,200 new international student arrivals in Canada between January and July this year, which was 80% fewer than for the same period in 2025.