Canada, a popular international student destination, is experiencing a paradigm shift in its education system. British Columbia has temporarily halted approvals for new colleges accepting international students until February 2026. The move comes days after Canada’s temporary cap on foreign student admissions to address housing shortages and rising rents. Canada’s government has set a 35% reduction in approved study permits for 2024 by limiting them to 360,000.

British Columbia Province is implementing a two-year moratorium, until February 2026, on new Education Quality Assurance designations, effective immediately. New institutions will not have access to the federal Designated Learning Institutions list to recruit international students until the moratorium ends. Current institutions may renew their designation during this period.

A portion of the cap will be allocated to each province and territory, which will then distribute the allocation among their designated learning institutions.

British Columbia has announced that it is taking action to eliminate exploitive practices and improve the quality of post-secondary education by strengthening quality standards and bringing in new safeguards for international students in the province.

British Columbia New Rules for International Students

British Columbia Province will pause approvals for two years, until February 2026, of new post-secondary institutions seeking to enrol international students.

British Columbia Province will implement more frequent inspections of private post-secondary institutions to ensure that new and improved quality standards are met and that students are properly supported.

To ensure students receive quality education, private degree programs will need to meet higher standards for approval. Standards include higher assessment criteria for degree quality, demonstrated labour-market need for graduates and appropriate resources, and student supports.

British Columbia is setting minimum language requirements at private training institutions to ensure new international students are better prepared for their educational and professional journey in the Province.

Public post-secondary institutions will be required to post tuition levels for students for the entire time they are studying. This ensures incoming students know the entire costs of their education before they start their program.