Canada announces new incentives for international recruitment of master’s and PhD students

Nov 17, 2025

Following this week’s announcement of a major reduction in Canada’s foreign enrolment cap, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has released additional guidance specifically favouring students pursuing advanced degrees.

IRCC has now introduced expedited study permit processing for international doctoral students. Here’s what this means:

  • Doctoral applicants applying from outside Canada will now have their study permits processed within 14 days.

  • This faster processing also extends to accompanying family members, provided they apply together with the doctoral student.

IRCC explains that Canada recognizes the significant contributions that doctoral researchers make to the country’s innovation ecosystem and key sectors such as healthcare. This faster processing is intended to make it easier for high-performing international PhD students to study, research, and build their careers in Canada.

In addition, beginning January 2026, students enrolling in master’s or doctoral programmes at public designated learning institutions (DLIs) will be completely exempt from the enrolment cap. This means no need for a Provincial/Territorial Attestation Letter (PAL/TAL).

However:

  • Graduate students enrolling in private DLIs will still require a PAL/TAL and will continue to count toward each province's allocation under the cap.

This shift makes year-to-year comparisons in the cap more complex. Historically, graduate students (master's + doctoral) represent a small share of Canada’s total foreign student numbers — just over 10% of study permits approved in 2023.

With over 53,000 study permits approved for graduate students in 2023 and around 65,000 students enrolled in advanced degree programmes in 2022/23, Canada could realistically welcome an extra 30,000–50,000 graduate students in 2026 on top of the new cap of 155,000. This reduces the apparent cap cut from the initially estimated -49% to between -41% and -30%.

This new direction clearly shows that IRCC is building a system that strongly favours advanced-degree pathways and encourages public universities to increase graduate recruitment. IRCC also confirms that Canada aims to become more competitive globally by expanding faster processing and simplifying the application process.

A new IRCC landing page dedicated to graduate students has already been released, highlighting all these incentives: faster processing for doctoral students and cap exemption for graduate students at public institutions starting 1 January 2026.

Ready to take advantage of these new opportunities?

Contact Admission World Consult today and let our experts guide you into the best Canadian master’s or PhD pathway for 2025/2026. Your future starts now, visit our office at Dzorwulu or send us a message to get started!