Diab caps student visa applications for 2026, pauses some permanent residency streams

Immigration Minister Lena Diab issued new ministerial instructions that include requiring provincial or territorial attestation letters for study permits with the goal of capping foreign student applications at just under 310,000 in the new year. 

The new instructions were published Saturday in the Canada Gazette, the official newspaper of the federal government, and says these letters need to include a prospective student's name, date of birth and address. 

The federal government plans to admit 155,000 international students next year under the annual immigration levels plan. 

Diab also issued instructions to pause the intake of permanent residency applications for startups and self-employed people as of Jan. 1. 

Permanent residency applications for migrant professional caregivers, both for home support and childcare, will not reopen as planned on March 31. 

The government says both pauses, which will be in effect for one year, are necessary due to the volume of applications that still need to be processed.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby