Canada has ended one among its hottest fast-track scholar visa programmes, the Pupil Direct Stream (SDS), which was launched in 2018 to assist post-secondary college students from 14 international locations, together with India, course of their visas extra rapidly. Any research allow purposes submitted after the cut-off will now be processed by means of the common research allow stream, which can take longer.
Indian college students who submitted their purposes below the SDS earlier than the two pm ET deadline on November 8 will nonetheless profit from expedited processing occasions. Nevertheless, these making use of after the cut-off will face longer wait occasions.
“The SDS route has been common amongst Indian college students for 2 causes—the marginally quicker visa approval time than the traditional scholar visa route and the requirement for fewer monetary paperwork, because it solely required a GIC to be submitted. The benefit of documentation choice nonetheless continues with the common scholar visa route, and Indian college students can nonetheless reap the benefits of that easier course of,” defined Piyush Kumar of IDP Schooling, a consultancy agency.
Why the change?
Though the rationale behind this sudden coverage change stays unclear, specialists are involved it might adversely have an effect on the plans of Indian college students hoping to check in Canada. “Whereas the precise causes behind this transformation aren’t completely clear, it might be related to broader immigration coverage changes or an effort to handle the amount of purposes amid present diplomatic tensions. For Indian college students, the removing of SDS could introduce extra hurdles, doubtlessly rising processing occasions and resulting in uncertainties,” mentioned Aritra Ghosal, founder and director at OneStep International, one other academic consultancy agency.
Asserting the tip of the programme on Friday, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) mentioned, “Canada’s objective is to strengthen programme integrity, tackle scholar vulnerability, and provides all college students equal and honest entry to the applying course of, in addition to a optimistic educational expertise. To satisfy this dedication, the Pupil Direct Stream (SDS) ended as of two pm right this moment. Canada is dedicated to giving all worldwide college students equal and honest entry to the applying course of for research permits.”
“We stay hopeful that this transformation is a part of a broader plan to refine the visa course of, and we encourage college students to remain knowledgeable and think about all accessible choices whereas planning their academic journeys,” Aritra Ghosal added.
Indian college students already on a scholar visa in Canada really feel the change may also be a step in the direction of lowering the variety of non permanent residents within the nation. Aaryan Arora, who’s pursuing a diploma in enterprise administration from Norquest School, believes some college students go for “simple programs” to achieve entry into Canada and typically find yourself unemployed after commencement.
Aaryan Arora’s views align with the Canadian prime minister’s latest announcement, the place he mentioned, “We’re going to have fewer non permanent international staff in Canada. We’re bringing in stricter guidelines for firms to show why they’ll’t rent Canadian staff first,” Justin Trudeau posted on X.
Moreover, The Globe and Mail lately reported that Ottawa is making ready to announce a major discount within the variety of everlasting residents it plans to confess. In response to the Canadian newspaper, the variety of everlasting residents will drop from 4.85 lakh this 12 months to three.95 lakh in 2025, with additional cuts to three.8 lakh in 2026 and three.65 lakh in 2027, primarily based on data from a senior authorities supply.
Aaryan Arora additionally famous that the adjustments may have a “good influence on Canada’s housing prices, which have doubled previously 9 years”. “As soon as that’s achieved and inflation is managed, Canada may restart the programme and produce again all the opposite immigrant-friendly insurance policies too,” he mentioned.
Indian college students — largest marketplace for Canada
In response to knowledge from IRCC, roughly 13 lakh Indian college students acquired research permits from 2015 to 2024. For 2024, up till August, 1.37 lakh Indian college students out of three.74 lakh worldwide college students—accounting for 36.7 per cent—acquired research permits. India is Canada’s largest supply nation for international college students, with an estimated 4.27 lakh college students finding out there in 2023.
Knowledge from NFAP, which analyses worldwide scholar statistics, confirmed that between 2016 and 2019, the variety of Indian college students in Canada rose by 182 per cent. For the previous six years, Indian college students have been among the many main beneficiaries of the SDS. In response to official estimates, 60 per cent of the 4 lakh Indian college students who sought to check in Canada in 2023 utilized below the programme. Below the SDS, the approval fee for Indian college students was persistently greater, breaching 70 per cent in 2023. In distinction, these making use of by means of the common route had approval charges as little as 10 per cent.
What subsequent for Indian college students?
Whereas some college students and specialists are involved that the method will change into longer and extra sophisticated, others imagine the influence will probably be short-lived. “We anticipate the SDS route announcement to solely have a short-term influence on candidates focusing on the speedy consumption in January and Might 2025,” Piyush Kumar mentioned.
Indian college students making use of for a scholar visa in Canada now ought to think about that visa processing occasions are anticipated to extend. They need to thus think about extra buffer time and apply for his or her research visas accordingly.
“For candidates focusing on all subsequent consumption cycles, we advise beginning early and permitting about eight to 10 weeks to safe scholar visa approvals. We perceive Indian college students’ choice for Canada as a research vacation spot and the recognition of the SDS for fast visa approvals, however even by means of the common visa processing route, Canada’s visa approval timelines will stay similar to, or shorter than, these of different common international locations,” Piyush Kumar mentioned.
With the forty fifth Canadian federal election scheduled for subsequent 12 months, Prime Minister Trudeau has launched a number of adjustments to the coed visa tips. As a part of these adjustments, the federal government has set a cap of 437,000 new research permits for 2025, overlaying all ranges of schooling, together with postgraduate programmes.
Different adjustments efficient from November 1 embody more durable language and educational benchmarks for college kids aiming to qualify for the post-graduation work allow (PGWP), restricted work permits for spouses of worldwide college students, greater monetary proof necessities, and lowered availability of multiple-entry visas.
“The latest measures Canada is taking, together with tighter immigration caps and elevated restrictions, seem to prioritise high-quality college students aiming for globally famend establishments. We might want to undertake a ‘wait and watch’ strategy, as upcoming occasions, such because the Canadian elections in 2025, could affect this stance. Traditionally, Canada has reopened doorways to Indian college students when demand shifts, given India’s sturdy applicant numbers. Present dynamics in diplomatic relations might also be influencing these choices,” mentioned an professional.
College students are additionally suggested to broaden their choices. “In mild of those adjustments, college students could profit from planning their purposes properly prematurely and contemplating extra research locations, comparable to Germany, Eire, Italy, Spain, and Singapore. Exploring these rising locations can present extra choices and broaden their educational alternatives,” mentioned Mayank Maheshwari, co-founder of College Residing, which assists college students to seek out lodging in a number of international locations.
College students already finding out overseas imagine that Indians have to deal with growing their abilities fairly than solely aiming to settle overseas. “There are a number of Indians who come to Canada simply to acquire PR and don’t even know tips on how to function a laptop computer. This will increase the immigration numbers but additionally raises the unemployability fee right here. I’d strictly advocate that such people first achieve abilities earlier than planning to check overseas, as rote studying won’t work right here. I don’t advocate coming to Canada for such individuals,” Aaryan Arora mentioned.
