Ottawa won’t restrict student visas from countries with high asylum-claim rates

The Liberal government is rejecting a proposal to restrict the number of study permits for international students from countries with large numbers of asylum claims, saying it would violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  

The Charter “prohibits laws or government actions that impose a disadvantage on people because of their national or ethnic origin,” the government argues in a response to a report tabled in April by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.  

The department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) “will continue to assess each application on an individual basis and apply a program integrity lens to reduce the risk of overstays and asylum claims,” stated the government response, released last month. 

The recommendation is one of ten that the parliamentary committee made after holding hearings into the federal International Student Program.  

During the hearings, the parliamentarians discussed an investigative report from the Radio-Canada program Enquête, which stated that people in some countries were using the International Student Program to enter Canada and then make asylum claims. 

In Côte d’Ivoire, a Radio-Canada journalist saw signs at an immigration consultant’s office promoting Canadian schools, including UQAM and the University of Ottawa. Using a hidden microphone, the journalist recorded the consultant as saying that individuals coming to Canada “can afterwards claim asylum in order to remain in Canada without needing to study, and that doing so was not risky.”    

The parliamentary committee called for restrictions on specific countries, saying they were needed “to further protect the International Student Program from being used to enter Canada for reasons other than study.”  

India the largest source of student asylum claims 

According to IRCC data, 19,725 international students claimed asylum in Canada in 2025. That’s 11 per cent fewer than the 22,245 claims made the previous year — a record high. The government credited recent reforms to the International Student Program for the drop.  

India, which accounts for the largest number of foreign students in Canada, also topped the list of asylum claimants in both years: 4,256 claims were filed in 2024 and 3,815 in the first eight months of 2025. The two countries with the next largest number of claimants were Guinea, with 1,959 claims in 2024 and 1,254 in 2025; and Nigeria, with 2,630 in 2024 and1,059 in 2025.  

In an interview with the public affairs channel CPAC, India’s High Commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik said that in recent years, Canada loosened its immigration standards and began admitting international students who “could not even get a university admission in India.” 

“Right now is a time for Canada to crack down, and for us to help Canada crack down,” he said, adding: “I am working with the Canadian government, with Universities Canada, with CICan [Colleges and Institutes Canada] to make sure that we have a talent and innovation strategy and immigration process which brings the best of talent and the best of things which Canada needs … a strategy which brings the best into Canada.” 

Committee vice-chair and Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary-Nose Hill) has been outspoken about urging the removal of international students whose study permits have expired.  

“The Conservatives will continue to press the government to remove non-citizens with no legal reason to be here,” she said in a statement in September.   

READ MORE: Committee urges penalties, random audits to crack down on foreign student visa fraud – University Affairs

Asylum claims may be legitimate: student federation 

Balpreet Singh, legal counsel with the World Sikh Organization of Canada, told University Affairs that many international students from India have a well-founded fear of persecution.  

“India has an appalling human rights record, and human rights observers have called it out for abuse against minority communities, including Sikhs,” he said. “It isn’t surprising that many Sikh students from Punjab have applied for refugee status.”  

The Indian High Commission in Ottawa did not respond to a request for comment.  

The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) told University Affairs that it rejects the idea that international students are “abusing the system” to stay in the country.  

“Exaggerating the actions of bad actors who misuse the system cannot be used an excuse to limit the entry of international students,” said CFS spokesperson Jun An “Toby” Lew. “Asylum seekers have a valid and legitimate right to enter Canada in search of safety in light of global instability.” 

“To group bad actors with international students and asylum seekers only perpetuates xenophobia and racism in Canada,” Mr. Lew said. 

READ MORE: Organized criminals target international students   – University Affairs 

Immigration reform may affect student asylum claimants 

In March, Bill C-12, the government’s legislation to reform the immigration system, was passed into law, limiting the right for some claimants to a hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. However, the legislation is being challenged by those who say it contradicts the Supreme Court’s 1985 Singh ruling, which guaranteed an oral hearing to refugee claimants physically present in Canada.  

The Singh decision led to the formation of the refugee board in 1989. However, the board has struggled to provide hearings for all claimants: the current backlog of asylum claims is more than 259,000.  

“While (Prime Minister) Mark Carney has claimed he has taken back control of immigration, he has no plan to clear hundreds of thousands of asylum claims — many of which are bogus,” commented Ms. Rempel Garner in a statement last month. 

According to IRCC, there is an approximately 13-month wait for claimants to find out whether their asylum request has been accepted.  

Starting on Nov. 3, the government is making changes to the asylum process. A claim will be deemed ineligible for an oral hearing if it was made more than one year after the person’s first entry to Canada. This could have an impact on the ability of international students to file an asylum claim after their study permit expires. The new approach faces legal challenges by those who say it violates the Supreme Court’s 1985 decision.