Indian and Chinese students have historically driven growth in Canada’s international education sector, with the former taking the lead in recent years. According to a new research, eight of Canada’s top ten fastest-growing student populations are from African countries.
According to a research issued by ApplyBoard, Guinean, Ghanaian, and Nepali students had the highest growth rates among all legal study permit holders in Canada in 2023.
According to the data, the overall number of Guinean students increased by 180% from 2022. Over the same time period, the number of Ghanaian students in Canada increased by 167%, while the number of Nepali students rose by 166%.
According to the report, Nigerian students now make up over 4% of Canada’s international student population, having more than doubled from the previous year.
Canada’s new international student cap is predicted to impact current trends by 2024. According to the research, one potential drawback of these new policies is that institutions may be hesitant to accept African candidates due to their low (but rising) approval rate in comparison to the rest of the world.
“Because schools will be allotted a limited number of applications to accept, they could feel disincentivised from accepting applications from countries with historically low approval rates,” the authors of the paper said.
The Canadian government’s recently proposed student cap will be applied based on provincial populations. However, it is too early to predict how these trends will change in 2024, given the increased student cap, proof of financial criteria, trustworthy institution structure, and post-graduation work permit (PGWP) eligibility constraints.