Canada Rejects Majority of Indian Student Permit Applications Amid Fraud Concerns

Canada’s efforts to curb student visa fraud have resulted in a sharp rise in study permit refusals for applicants from India, according to new federal data. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) figures show that 74 per cent of Indian study permit applications were rejected in August 2025 — more than double the refusal rate from the same month last year.

The federal government has tightened the issuance of international study permits for a second consecutive year as part of a broader plan to limit temporary migration and strengthen oversight of educational institutions. By comparison, the overall refusal rate for all countries stood at about 40 per cent in August, while applications from China saw a 24 per cent rejection rate.

The volume of applications from India has also fallen sharply — from more than 20,000 in August 2023 to just over 4,500 in August 2025. India remains Canada’s largest source of international students but now has the highest refusal rate among countries with over 1,000 approved applicants.