International student rates down 29 per cent in two years, says Statistics Canada

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Statistics Canada estimates the number of international students in the country has decreased by about 124,000 students in the last two years.

According to a feasibility study released on May 5th, 2026, the number of international students enrolled in public postsecondary institutions at both the college and university level grew substantially up until the 2023/24 academic year. 

From 2019/2020 to 2023/2024, the number of international students grew from 289,259 to 428,077, except for 2020/21, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Other than a 4 per cent decline in international students in 2020/21, the study said growth had been sustained, increasing from 12 to 20 per cent annually.

New estimations indicate the number of international students in 2024/25 decreased by 4 per cent, followed by a 26 per cent decrease in 2025/26, compared to previous years, according to Statistics Canada.  

The estimated decline represents a decrease of 124,000 students, which brings the number of international students back to nearly 300,000, similar to levels observed during the second academic year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2021/2022.

College programs appeared to show a moderate decline in students in 2024/25, down only 3 per cent, but a steeper decline in 2025/26 with a 40 per cent decline in enrollment. 

International student rates have also decreased depending on the level of study. 

According to Statistics Canada, the decline in students for undergraduate and master’s programs was at 18 per cent from 2023/24 to 2025/26 and 11 per cent in the same time period for doctoral programs. 

The study estimates a decline of almost 100,000 students in college programs from 2024/25 to 2025/26. 

Northern Lights College has had an international student program for the last 10 to 15 years, according to Scott Clerk, Associate vice president of Educational Services at Northern Lights College.

Clerk said international students are important members of the community.

“They study with us, they work part-time as well while they’re students,” he said. “When they graduate, a lot of them end up staying in our cities in the northeast, and we’re really proud of that.”  

Since last year, Northern Lights College has seen a 25 to 30 per cent decline in international students, which is what the university projected, Clerk said. 

“We’re really proud of the fact that, relative to other post-secondaries [institutions] in BC, we’ve actually seen less of a drop off of international enrollment and that’s something we’ve put a lot of effort into, maintaining our international student enrollment.” 

Clerk also said the college has seen an increase in local students.

“Another important piece of context here is that while we’ve seen this change in the international program, we’ve actually been seeing a significant growth in local student numbers,” said Clerk. “Our domestic student enrollment at the college is up significantly over the last couple of years.”

According to Clerk, the increase in local students is a part of the college’s strategic plan launched in 2023, which has aimed to make entry into the college easier for local applicants. 

The college still has full classrooms, and programs are filling up quicker than in previous years, Clerk said. He also mentioned the college has heard fewer international students has had an impact on local businesses hiring part-time workers.

Clerk said the college recently developed a new initiative to maintain international enrollment.

“The rural community immigration pilot program is a federal program that allows local communities to sponsor and support temporary residents transitioning to permanent residents,” he said. “It’s a program that allows communities to try and attract and retain newcomers.”

Clerk continued by explaining the positives of the college’s international student program.

“Our international student program is a great opportunity for our region in the northeast to be able to attract temporary residents, international students, with the potential to try and retain them long-term.”   

According to Clerk, a policy enacted by the federal government to reduce the number of international students was aimed at addressing issues in the bigger cities.

“A lot of the challenges and problems the federal government was seeing in these pretty significant policy changes, were big city problems,” he said. “There were challenges with housing costs, housing availability, youth unemployment and the policy response of the government was towards those big city problems.”

Clerk explained the policies’ impact on rural communities. 

“It’s unfortunate that rural communities end up paying the price of some of the big city problems that we weren’t necessarily contributing to those programs, but we’re now having to respond and deal with some of the problems and challenges of the international student program because of that.”