Canada’s overall foreign worker and student numbers drop for the first time in years
For the first time in years, the overall number of study and work permit holders in Canada has decreased year over year, as tightening immigration regulations in the country continue to impact temporary residents.
Between 2024 and 2025, Canada saw a net decrease of 14,954 temporary residents (TRs), with the greatest reductions coming from the country’s largest metropolitan areas.
While seemingly insignificant, a decrease in overall TR levels represents a significant U-turn for immigration policy: between 2023 and 2024 (before the bulk of new immigration restrictions were enacted) Canada gained 781,075 non-permanent residents (e.g., work or study permit holders).
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The bulk of the TR decrease over the last two years came from Canada’s largest metropolitan areas (which saw a net decrease of 20,611 TRs), with significant losses in Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba offset by gains Quebec and Alberta.
In contrast, the number of TRs slightly increased (+3,524) in smaller populations centers around Canada.
Of note is that these numbers represent the absolute level of temporary residents, and are different from the rate of new arrivals, which has notably been contracting since 2024.
Overall levels of temporary residents will lag the trends in new arrivals as those already in Canada with existing study and work permits face will only feel the consequences of tightened regulations once seeking to renew or extend their status.
A total of 120,016 people emigrated from Canada between 2024 and 2025.
Which regions saw the largest departures of temporary residents?
The following table breaks down the largest net decreases in temporary residents by Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)*:
| CMA | Net non-permanent residents |
|---|---|
| Toronto, ON | -44,792 |
| Vancouver, BC | -10,098 |
| Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo, ON | -7,365 |
| London, ON | -1,777 |
| Hamilton, ON | -1,695 |
| Winnipeg, MB | -1,559 |
| Victoria, BC | -1,222 |
| Brantford, ON | -793 |
| Halifax, NS | -788 |
| Québec, QC | -757 |
Of particular note is the net decrease of TRs in the Toronto CMA, which itself is more than roughly three times the net decrease across Canada overall—again indicating that significant declines there were offset by gains in other areas of the country.
*CMAs are a designation used by Statistics Canada (largely for the purposes of census data collection) and are not the same as cities. Rather, CMAs are formed by adjacent municipalities around a population center, referred to as the “core” (from which the CMA derives its name).
For example, the cities of Toronto, Mississauga, and Brampton are distinct as cities, but all fall under the CMA of Toronto (with Toronto itself as the population core).
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Which regions saw the largest gains in temporary residents?
Over the same period, several CMAs actually saw net gains to their TR levels, particularly Quebec and Alberta:
| CMA | Net non-permanent residents |
|---|---|
| Montréal, QC | +17,635 |
| Calgary, AB | +9,608 |
| Edmonton, AB | +8,972 |
| St. Catharines–Niagara, ON | +3,397 |
| Ottawa–Gatineau, ON/QC | +2,922 |
| Windsor, ON | +2,179 |
| Saskatoon, SK | +1,272 |
| Saguenay, QC | +863 |
| Lethbridge, AB | +838 |
| Red Deer, AB | +797 |
What has led to the decrease in temporary residents in Canada?
Between 2024 and 2025 the Canadian government enacted a number of policies targeting international students and foreign workers, instituting tighter regulations for these individuals to gain or extend temporary status. These include:
- *Moratorium on low-wage LMIAs: Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) under the low-wage stream of the TFWP—submitted after September 26, 2024—are no longer being being processed in regions with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher.
- The federal government updates the list of regions in which low-wage LMIAs won’t be processed on a quarterly basis.
- Reduced validity period for low-wage stream TFWP permits: In September 2024, IRCC reduced the maximum employment duration to one year (down from two) for workers hired under the low-wage stream of the TFWP.
- Higher high-wage TFWP threshold: The wage threshold for the high-wage stream of the TFWP has been raised to 20% above the median regional wage.
- Restricted spousal open work permits: Spousal OWPs are now limited to spouses of select skilled foreign workers and international students, including spouses of TFWP holders in TEER 0–1 or select in-demand TEER 2–3 occupations and spouses of students in doctoral programs, master’s programs of 16 months or longer, and select professional programs.
- SOWP eligibility criteria: Eligibility depends on program type, occupation (TEER level), and minimum work permit validity.
- Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) eligibility restrictions: PGWP eligibility now includes language requirements for applications submitted after November 1, 2024, and field-of-study requirements for graduates of non-exempt programs whose initial study permit applications were submitted after November 1, 2024.
- Further, as of May 15, 2024, international graduates of college programs delivered through a public-private curriculum licensing agreement are no longer eligible for PGWPs.
- Removal of COVID-era policy: The federal government removed its COVID-era policy allowing visitors to transition more easily to job-offer supported work permits (as of August 24, 2024).
- Ban on flag poling: On December 23, 2024, IRCC implemented a ban on flag poling, which made it so that same-day processing of work or study permit applications at ports of entry was no longer permitted moving forward.
- Study permit cap for 2025: Study permit applications were capped at 550,162 for 2025, with only 437,000 permits to be issued, representing a 10% reduction from 2024—which is when study permit caps were first introduced to reduce temporary resident numbers.
- In 2024, IRCC introduced a Provincial or Territorial Attestation Letter (PAL/TAL) requirement for most new international students as part of the national cap on study permits.
*Hiring and renewals under the TFWP require an LMIA. Without an LMIA, employers cannot hire new workers or renew existing work permits under this foreign worker program.
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