Canada Fails to Track Foreign Students; Most Remain After Visas Expire, Auditor Finds

Canada lacks effective mechanisms to determine whether foreign students leave the country after their study permits expire, a new audit by the Office of the Auditor General has revealed. The review found that of 39,500 student visas that expired in 2024, authorities could confirm the departure of only 40% of those individuals through the Canada Border Services Agency.

Auditor General Karen Hogan’s audit, released Monday, highlighted serious gaps in the integrity of Canada’s international student program. While the government has succeeded in reducing the total number of study permits issued annually, it has failed to ensure compliance or to take consistent action against non-compliant students. “While there were some adjustments made to improve the integrity of the program, what’s concerning is that the department isn’t acting on the information it has,” Hogan said at a news conference.

The audit noted that about 150,000 students were flagged for potential non-compliance with their permit terms in 2023 and 2024, yet the Immigration Department had resources to investigate only around 4,000 cases. In 41% of investigations, cases could not be closed because students failed to respond. The report also identified 800 study permits issued between 2018 and 2023 involving fraudulent documents or misrepresentation, yet the government took no action in those cases, and 92% of those permit holders were later approved or awaiting decisions on other immigration applications.

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Canada’s international student program has been controversial in recent years due to a rapid increase in permits and concerns that the system serves as a pathway to permanent residency. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of international students in Canada surged to more than 1 million by 2023. In response, the government introduced reforms, including annual caps on study permits and a goal to reduce the proportion of temporary residents to 5% of the population by 2027.

Despite these reforms, the government fell short of its targets in 2024, approving just under 150,000 study permits compared with a forecast of nearly 350,000. Hogan’s report attributes the shortfall to fewer applications and lower-than-expected approval rates.

In response, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab said the government accepts the auditor general’s recommendations to strengthen follow-up on suspected fraud or non-compliance. “This report captures only the first 18 months of a broader multi-year reform effort that runs through 2027. It reflects an early phase of implementation, not the full impact of the changes now underway,” Diab said.

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