Canada’s foreign student crush: Auditor General reveals the scale of demand from India
Bob Mackin
The federal government found only 50 students to have broken immigration rules in 2023 and 2024 out of the more than 150,000 under suspicion.
That is because so few were under the magnifying glass, according to a March 23 report from Auditor General of Canada Karen Hogan.
“Most of the students who were flagged for potential non‑compliance were not being investigated,” said the report.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Punjab, February 2018. (Trudeau/Instagram)
Destination Canada
The Liberal government promoted Canada as a destination for foreign students and education as a pathway to permanent residency. So applications for study permits skyrocketed by 121% between 2019 and 2023 — from 426,000 to 943,000.
The government cancelled the program and capped applications in 2024. Fewer applications and lower than projected approval rates “led to a sharper decline than forecasted.”
Yet, as the report says, the department was “slow to respond to integrity concerns within the Student Direct Stream of the program” as it peaked.
In 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited India with six cabinet ministers.
In 2022 and 2023, the government approved a total 370,050 applications from Indian nationals.
Applicants were given a “light touch” eligibility review, which led to approvals from India reaching 98% by 2024. That, despite a risk assessment that called India a high-risk country.
More numbers
In 2023, 51.6% of the incoming student population was from India, which fell to 8.1% by 2025. China increased from 4.8% to 18.9% during the period, while Europe jumped 3% to 21.2%.
More than 4,000 investigations were launched, with 3,105 completed, 915 cancelled and 37 still in progress.
“Out of the 3,105 investigations that were completed, 1,401 students confirmed to be studying, 1,654 students did not respond to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and 50 students were confirmed to be non‑compliant,” said the International Student Reforms report.
The report said that the department only had funding to investigate 2,000 cases per year.
“In three investigations, the department identified 800 study permits issued between 2018 and 2023 for which applicants had either used fraudulent documentation or misrepresented information on their applications to gain entry into Canada,” said the report. “Most of these individuals [501] later applied for other immigration permits once in Canada.”
Mountie shortage
Meanwhile, in another report published March 23, Hogan found the shortage of RCMP officers has worsened, with at least 3,400 more officers needed as of September 2025.
From April 2023 to September 2025, the 30-month audit period, the RCMP hired 2,262 officers. But 2,200 left or retired. “
“This resulted in a net gain of only 62 police officers across the entire force,” said the audit.
Recruitment
The force filled only 18% of all cadet training classes to capacity. The average cost to recruit and train a new officer was $247,000.
RCMP “did not recruit and post new police officers in their first assignments in a timely and effective way to meet operational needs.”
B.C., however, bucked the trend. The number of officers assigned to the frontline was 336 — 110 more than should have been assigned, based on demand. B.C. also had the lowest vacancy rate at 2.4%.
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Bob Mackin The federal government found only 50
