Permits for students from abroad to study in Canada plummeted in the first half of this year, with nearly 90,000 fewer issued than a year earlier.

This comes after the federal government introduced a cap on international student visas in early 2024.

Between January and June 2024, Canada issued 125,034 international study permits.

Between January and June of this year, that fell to 36,417, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) told CBC News on Wednesday.

IRCC provided figures for the first halves of 2024 and 2025. The agency did not provide data on the number of applications for international student visas from those two periods.

IRCC spokesperson Laura Blondeau didn't address the cause of the drop in permits. But in a statement to CBC News, Blondeau said the agency is "f

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