Canada halts Student Direct Stream, impacting thousands of incoming international students

Chandigarh/Ottawa (The Uttam Hindu): In a significant policy shift, Canada has officially terminated the Student Direct Stream (SDS) as of November 8, 2024, affecting thousands of international students. Introduced in 2018, the SDS was designed to expedite the study permit process for applicants from 14 countries, including India, China, Pakistan, and the Philippines, who met specific criteria. Along with the SDS, the Nigerian Student Express (NSE) program has also been discontinued, requiring Nigerian applicants to apply through the regular study permit route.

The SDS program, which was popular among international students, allowed for faster study permit approvals—often within a few weeks—compared to the standard processing time, which now averages eight weeks for applicants from countries like India. To qualify for SDS, applicants needed to provide a Canadian Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) of $20,635 CAD and submit language test scores in either English or French.

The termination of SDS comes as part of Canada’s broader strategy to manage the increasing influx of temporary residents, including international students and workers, in response to rising pressures on housing and public services. In 2024, Canada introduced a cap of 437,000 new study permits for 2025, covering all levels of education, including graduate programs. Additional recent policy changes include stricter language and academic requirements for Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) applicants, limits on work permits for spouses of international students, and higher financial requirements for applicants to prove sufficient funds.

These changes aim to control the record-high number of international students in Canada, which reached 807,000 study permit holders in 2023, while the government works to address housing shortages and growing demand for public services.

Historically, the SDS program boasted higher approval rates and faster processing times than the standard study permit process. With its cancellation, applicants who were planning to apply through SDS will now face longer processing times.

Study permit processing times vary by country. For instance, applications from India, submitted after November 8, are now subject to an average processing time of approximately eight weeks.