For thousands of Indian students, a letter from a Canadian university once represented far more than an admission offer. It symbolised a new chapter: education abroad, improved career prospects and possibly settling in a friendly country. Until recently, Canada was seen as one of the most welcoming destinations for global students. But in 2025, many of those letters never arrived or worse, arrived only to be followed by a visa rejection.
Meet Aarav Kumar (name changed), a final-year engineering student from Rajasthan. After his semester exams, he learnt that he had secured admission at a reputed Canadian university. His parents sold a portion of their land to pay for the deposit. The excitement was visible in every conversation: “I am going to start a new life,” he would say. For Indian families like his, studying in Canada meant quality education and the possibility of working and settling abroad. The path seemed clear.
Then came the shock: data released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) show that in August 2025, about 74 % of study-permit applications from Indian students were rejected, a steep rise from around 32 % in August 2023. Meanwhile, the total number of Indian applications plunged from roughly 20 900 in August 2023 to just 4 515 in August 2025.
It was not just the rejection rates: India’s fastest-growing student base for Canada was shrinking, losing its luster as the “first choice” for overseas education.
Officials in Canada say they are tightening rules to curb fraud, ease pressure on infrastructure and ensure incoming students are genuine. In 2023, immigration authorities uncovered about 1 550 fraudulent study-permit applications from India with fake acceptance letters. Over half of the rejections are reportedly due to doubts about whether the applicant would return home after studies or had proper financial resources.
More rules followed: the minimum proof of funds required almost doubled to over CAD 20 000 (roughly ₹15 lakh) for many Indian students.
For Aarav’s parents, the rejection letter arrived after their savings were spent, his admission offer accepted and boarding flights booked. The university’s deposit was non-refundable, tuition escalation already began and the dream was over all without a word of warning.
“It felt like we built a bridge and it collapsed the moment I stepped on it,” Aarav says, struggling to find new options. Stories like his are repeating across small towns and cities in India, where families invest heavily emotionally and financially only to be faced with silence and heartbreak.
With Canada’s doors tightening, Indian students are now looking at alternative destinations: Germany, the UK, Australia and even Asian countries are attracting more applications with friendlier rules and lower costs.
For Canada, this shift may hurt its higher-education-economy model and its reputation as a welcoming nation for foreign students.
Aarav is now applying to universities in Germany, but the emotional cost lingers. He says he’s starting over, “but I’m still mourning the chance I thought was mine.”
His story, and thousands like it, reveal the human cost behind policy shifts and rejection letters. The ‘letter of hope’ may have never arrived, but the memory remains and it’s heavy.
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