Rising Refusals for Temporary Residency in Canada
In 2024, Canada witnessed a significant increase in rejected applications from prospective visitors, international students, and foreign employees. Immigration authorities turned down a staggering 2,359,157 temporary resident applications, representing 50 percent of all applications. This marked a rise from the previous year's rejection rate of 35 percent, which amounted to 1,846,180 denied applications. The refusal rate, encompassing study permits, work permits, and visitor visas, reached its highest level since 2019, before the pandemic.
The breakdown of refusals across different categories was notable. Last year, 1.95 million visitor visa applicants, or 54 percent, were denied approval—an increase from the 40 percent denial rate in 2023. Similarly, the refusal rate for study permit applicants rose to 52 percent, impacting 290,317 individuals compared to the previous year's 38 percent. In contrast, the percentage of rejected work permit applications slightly decreased to 22 percent, affecting 115,549 applicants.
Government Measures Amid Public Pressure
The Canadian federal government has established stringent targets to control the influx of temporary residents amid growing public concern about the affordable housing crisis and escalating living costs in the post-pandemic landscape. It has reduced the annual quota for new permanent residents by 20 percent to address this issue, setting goals of 395,000 for 2025, 380,000 for 2026, and 365,000 for 2027.
Ottawa has attempted to restrict new entries to manage the increasing temporary resident population. It hopes that migrants in the country will voluntarily depart once their permits expire. Some may transition to permanent residency under eligible programs instead. However, data from the Immigration Department suggests a contrasting scenario regarding the status of existing migrants.
Individuals with expiring temporary residence status can apply for a "visitor record," which permits them to remain legally in Canada but does not allow them to work or study. The number of visitor record applications surged from 196,965 in 2019 to 389,254 in 2024, with a refusal rate of approximately five percent. Last year, immigration officials granted extensions to 321,277 temporary residents, only a slight decline from 333,672 approvals in 2023.