Canada announces 2026 study permit cap, plans 7% reduction in permits issued
The Canadian government has announced how many study permits it plans to issue in 2026.
On November 25, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) revealed that it will issue up to 408,000 study permits for international students in the coming year.
This is a 7% decrease from the 2025 issuance target of 437,000, and a 16% decrease from the 2024 issuance target of 485,000.
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How will the study permits issued be distributed in 2026?
Of the 408,000 study permits issued in the coming year, 155,000 will be reserved for newly-arriving international students (as detailed in the Immigration Levels Plan 2026-2028).
The remaining study permits (253,000) will be for extensions for current and returning students.
The breakdown of how it will distribute these 408,000 study permits according to student cohorts are as follows:
| Type of candidates (both new arrivals and in-Canada extensions) | Number of permits issued |
| PAL/ TAL required applicants | 180,000 |
| Master’s and doctoral students (PAL/TAL exempt) | 49,000 |
| Primary and secondary school (kindergarten to grade 12, also PAL/TAL exempt) | 115,000 |
| Other PAL/TAL-exempt study permit applicants | 64,000 |
| Total | 408,000 |
Earlier this year, it was announced that master’s and doctoral level students at designated learning institutions (DLIs) will no longer need to acquire a provincial attestation letter (PAL) or territorial attestation letter (TAL) starting January 2026.
All other applicants at the post-secondary level will need to submit a PAL when applying for a study permit (unless they meet specific exceptions).
Study permits according to province and territory
The federal government has further broken down how study permits will be issued, by province and territory in Canada in 2026.
IRCC will accept a maximum of 309,670 study permit applications for processing from PAL/TAL required students in 2026.
This processing cap is expected to result in the issuance of, up to 180,000 study permits. This target is distributed according to province and territory based on their population.
Note the distinction in the table below between "study permit applications to be processed"—which accounts for applications that will be refused—and "planned study permit issuances", which only considers approvals.
| Province or territory | Study permit applications to be processed in 2026 for PAL/TAL-required cohorts | Planned study permit issuances for PAL/TAL-required cohorts |
| Alberta | 32,271 | 21,582 |
| British Columbia | 32,596 | 24,786 |
| Manitoba | 11,196 | 6,534 |
| New Brunswick | 8,004 | 3,726 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 5,507 | 2,358 |
| Northwest Territories | 785 | 198 |
| Nova Scotia | 8,480 | 4,680 |
| Nunavut* | 0 | 180 |
| Ontario | 104,780 | 70,074 |
| Prince Edward Island | 1,376 | 774 |
| Quebec | 93,069 | 39,474 |
| Saskatchewan | 11,349 | 5,436 |
| Yukon | 257 | 198 |
| Total | 309,670 | 180,000 |
*IRCC has not assigned allocation spaces under Nunavut as the territory currently does not have any designated post-secondary learning institutions.
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