IRCC has announced a cap of 437,000 study permits for 2025, marking a 10% reduction compared to 2024. This cap applies to all study permit approvals, including students required to submit Provincial Attestation Letters (PALs) or Territorial Attestation Letters (TALs) and those exempt from this requirement.
To manage the cap, IRCC introduced PAL/TAL requirements for most students applying to post-secondary programs. In total, IRCC expects to issue 316,276 study permits to PAL/TAL-required students, while the remainder will go to exempt groups such as international students attending primary or secondary schools (K-12 students) and certain priority cohorts.
IRCC has also set a processing limit of 550,162 applications to ensure enough approvals to meet the cap, accounting for rejections, withdrawals, and incomplete applications.
Study Permit Allocations by Province/Territory for PAL/TAL-Required Students in 2025
- Alberta: 47,338
- British Columbia: 76,087
- Manitoba: 18,591
- New Brunswick: 14,785
- Newfoundland and Labrador: 9,182
- Northwest Territories: 705
- Nova Scotia: 18,602
- Nunavut: 0
- Ontario: 181,590
- Prince Edward Island: 2,435
- Quebec: 162,742
- Saskatchewan: 17,641
- Yukon: 464
Ontario (181,590) and Quebec (162,742) are allocated the highest number of permits for PAL/TAL-required students. Graduate students, who are pursuing master’s or doctoral degrees, are now required to submit PALs, a change effective as of January 24, 2025.
Additionally, exchange students are now exempt from PAL/TAL requirements, joining groups such as K-12 students, existing permit holders extending their study period, and other priority cohorts.
