Still Waiting on Your Study Permit for Canada? Unfortunately, You're Not Alone

The immigration backlog in Canada means students around the world still don't have their student visas, a week into the new semester.

You may have heard that Canada's currently suffering a massive backlog of immigration requests. It's an amazing country, and many people want to live, work, and study here. This is great, as Canada needs newcomers to help grow the economy as the population ages.

The downside, though, is that each newcomer needs immigration paperwork done before they can arrive in Canada — and Canada is way behind.

This would be bad enough at any time, but right now, we're at the start of a new semester, and there are international students around the world who can't get hold of a student visa — meaning they can't come to Canada.

What's causing Canada's international student visa delays?

In a word, the delays on student visa processing for international students are caused by one thing: volume. There are so many applicants that the government office responsible for them, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), can't keep up.

Students and other newcomers have submitted all the paperwork needed, on time, and still been unable to receive a student visa before the start of the semester. There's just not enough people checking and issuing visas to get through the backlog quickly.

Between January 1 and July 31, 2022, Canada processed about 304,000 study permit applications. The goal was another 104,000 for August. Still, the backlog of all temporary visas (including study permits and others) is about 1.5 million, so there's no clear end in sight.

What is Canada doing to remedy the situtation and send the student visas?

IRCC has hired more people to review visa applications. Over a thouand people have come on board over the summer to help with the backlog, and processes are being streamlined at the ministerial level to smooth things out. Still, this is cold comfort to students abroad waiting for a study permit that seems like it will never arrive.

What does this mean for international students still waiting for a study permit?

The study permit backlog in Canada could mean that international students are forced to defer the start of their studies, putting off starting school until the visa issue is dealt with. We're already missing valuable class time, and the longer the backlog persists, the more classes international students will miss.

As a small bright spot, the government has announced the extension of the post-graduation work permit (PGWP) for international students until August 31, 2023. This means that if you're forced to study online this year, you can still apply to work in Canada after you graduate.

It's better to study online than defer entirely. At least this way, you can start making some progress on your degree, and eventually come to Canada to pursue your career after graduation.

Still, let's hope the officials at IRCC can get a handle on the backlog, so each international student who needs a student visa can get one. It's just one small part of your journey, but it's so important!

We're eager to see you here in Canada soon.