Earlier, in October 2023, Canada was asked to pull 41 diplomats, or two-thirds of its staff, out of India.

Study Visa permits in Canada for India students, Immigration news: In a major development, a report stated that the number of study permits, issued to Indian students by Canada, has fallen sharply, late last year after New Delhi ejected Canadian diplomats who would process the permits. A top Canadian official told Reuters that fewer Indian students applied for study visa permits in Canada due to a diplomatic dispute over the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. 

In an interview, given to Reuters, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that he believed the number of study visa permits to students coming from India is unlikely to rebound soon. It may be recalled that the diplomatic tensions between the two countries erupted after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in June, made a bizarre claim that there was evidence that Indian government agents were involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.

He further said that the tensions were likely to weigh on the numbers going forward. "Our relationship with India has really halved our ability to process a lot of applications from India," he said.

Earlier, in October 2023, Canada was asked to pull 41 diplomats, or two-thirds of its staff, out of India. India-Canada dispute prompted Indian students to seek to study in other countries, a spokeswoman for the minister said.

These factors led to a drop of 86 percent in study visa permits issued to Indians by Canada in the fourth quarter of last year from the previous quarter to 14,910 from 108,940, as per official data that have not been previously reported.

Notably, Indians are the largest group of international students in Canada in recent years, with more than 41 percent- or 225,835 - of all permits going to them in 2022.

It is also stated that international students are a cash cow for Canadian universities as they make around C$22 billion ($16.4 billion) annually and such a fall in study permits will come as a blow to these institutions.

(For more news apart from Study Visa permits in Canada for India students, and immigration news, stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman)