Canada sees largest population drop in 80 years as international students reduce
Statistics Canada reported a historic drop of 76,068 between Q2 and Q3 2025, attributed to fewer temporary residents, especially international students.
Between July and September this year, Canada recorded its largest quarterly decline in population in at least 80 years, with the falling population attributed to a decrease in temporary resident numbers, particularly international students.
According to population estimates published by Statistics Canada or StatCan, the country’s data agency, on Wednesday, the decrease between the second and third quarters of 2025 amounted to 76,068 persons, or 0.2%.
Going by StatCan data dating back to 1946, there hasn’t been a sharper decline in the country’s population. The last time Canada’s population fell was during the Covid-19 pandemic, when it dropped marginally in the last quarter to 2020 over the previous three-month period. That decrease was marginal, at just 1,232 people.
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Immigration policies adopted by the government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau led to a surge in the numbers of temporary residents. In fact, StatCan pointed out that in the third quarter of 2023, Canada experienced a population increase of 418,634 or 1%, marking the highest quarterly growth in population since the second quarter of 1957, when the number was less than half, at 198,000. As a public backlash to the historic intake of newcomers resulted, Ottawa introduced policies to reduce their numbers, especially with regard to temporary residents.
In the third quarter of 2024, the population increased by 231,803 people or 0.6%.
“Preliminary estimates show that the reduction in the number of non-permanent residents in Canada (-176,479) in the third quarter of 2025 was the primary reason for the decrease in Canada’s population over this period,” StatCan noted.
On October 1, 2025, there were 2,847,737 non-permanent residents in Canada (6.8 per cent of the total population), down from 3,024,216 on July 1, 2025 (7.3%).
The drop in their estimated number was the result of “larger, record-high outflows” of non-permanent residents.
As the Hindustan Times reported earlier this month, the number of study permits issued to international students from India dropped by more than half in the third quarter of this year when compared to the same period in 2024.
According to data from Immigration, Refugees and Immigration Canada or IRCC, Indian students accounted for 24,030 permits out of a total of 146,505 or 16.4%, between July and September 2025. Last year, they comprised 52,425, or nearly 30% of the overall 177,025 study visas issued during the same period.
In the month of September, the latest for which data is available, Indians were issued 8,400 out of 49,350 visas, as against 14,385 out of 46,230 during the same month in 2024.
The decline follows policies instituted in the last quarter of 2023, as further restrictions were ordered in the months following amid concerns in the country over a surge in temporary immigrants contributing towards a spike in housing affordability and placing pressure on public infrastructure.
In November this year, the Government projected a seven per cent decrease in the total number of international students issued permits next year. IRCC noted that the total number of study permits to be issued in 2026 will be capped at 408,000, including 155,000 visas issued to newly arriving international students plus 253,000 extensions for current and returning students.
“This number is 7% lower than the 2025 issuance target of 437,000 and 16% lower than the 2024 issuance target of 485,000,” IRCC said.
IRCC said that the cap that was first introduced in 2024 “has been an effective tool in slowing the growth of Canada’s temporary population” as the number of study permit holders has fallen from over a million in January 2024 to about 725,000 by September 2025.
“While this progress is significant, further reductions are needed to meet our commitment of reducing the share of Canada’s temporary population to below 5% of the total population by the end of 2027,” it added.
The immigration levels plan introduced in Parliament earlier this month had Canada sharply reducing its intake of temporary residents, including workers and international students, by nearly 43%.
In its previous levels plan, the Government had looked at admitting 305,000 new international students each year. However, the latest plan showed the target at 155,000, reducing further to 150,000 in 2027 and 2028.
