A senior Canadian official told Reuters that the number of study permits Canada granted to Indian students dropped precipitously in the latter part of the previous year as a result of India expelling Canadian diplomats who were to handle the permits and a decrease in the number of Indian applications because of a diplomatic spat over the death of a Khalistani terrorist in Canada.
In an interview, Immigration Minister Marc Miller stated that he thinks it is unlikely that the number of study permits issued to Indians will increase anytime soon. After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed in June that there was proof linking Indian agents to the death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, diplomatic tensions broke out.
According to Miller, the tensions will probably continue to affect the numbers in the future.
On directives from New Delhi, Canada was compelled to remove 41 diplomats, or two-thirds of its workforce, from India in October. Furthermore, a minister’s spokesman stated that the disagreement has led Indian students to look at studying abroad.
According to official data that have not been previously released, these circumstances caused an 86% decrease in the number of study licenses granted to Indians in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the previous quarter, from 108,940 to 14,910.
Canada declared in June that “credible” claims had been made connecting the killing of Nijjar in a suburb of Vancouver to Indian operatives. That accusation has been denied by India. No one has been charged with the death by Canadian authorities yet.
Along with this, the Canadian government has been working to lower the total number of foreign students coming to the nation, partly in response to the ongoing housing crisis.
The government estimated that 900,000 foreign students would study in Canada in 2023—roughly three times as many as there were ten years prior. Miller said that 360,000 students, or 40% of the total, were Indian. Although they still made up the largest group, Indian students received 4% fewer visas last year.
