Canada’s International Student Program is slated to undergo a federal review in 2026. The audit follows Ottawa’s implementation of a national study permit cap in response to rapid growth in international admissions.
The cap has produced uneven impacts across the provinces, prompting concerns about Canada’s reputation as a destination for international education.
In Alberta, the University of Calgary faces a $34.7 million shortfall connected to international student cuts. In a statement to the Calgary Journal, the university said international enrolment declined by 8.8 per cent in 2024 after four consecutive years of growth.
“International students help add to our diverse and dynamic campus environment. We value the significant contributions international students bring to research, innovation, and entrepreneurship,” a University of Calgary spokesperson said.
Political scientist and Mount Royal University professor Duane Bratt said Alberta’s post-secondary institutions have avoided the steep program cuts and enrolment shocks seen in Ontario and British Columbia.
Bratt pointed to Ontario as the “flashpoint” of the international student debate, where several institutions relied heavily on foreign enrolments to offset cuts to government funding.
An Alberta provincial expert panel warns that stability may be short-lived as post-secondary fees paid by international students have increased year over year. Rising from $362 million in 2020-21 to more than $670 million just three years later.
The panel estimated that federal policy changes could cut international enrolments enough to cost institutions roughly $168 million by 2025-26 — putting a potential strain on their ability to maintain quality and sustain programs.
Some Alberta institutions have already begun limiting their intake of international students.
Blair Howes, the president of the Senior Academic Faculty Association at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), said the concern for quality over quantity prompted early action at the Calgary-based polytechnic.
Howes said the school imposes its own cap for international students at 30 per cent of the student body.
“You can’t have that kind of growth and not do some sort of infrastructure,” said Howes. “Especially when it interferes with students’ success.”