Toronto, Jan 20 (IANS): Canada is set to reduce the number of international students coming to the country for post-secondary education.

The cut in study visas will likely come later this year.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, Canada issued a record 579,075 study visas in 2023. As a result, the number of international students jumped from 617,250 in 2021 to over 900,000 in 2023.

Public opinion has blamed high immigration levels and international students for housing affordability problems in the urban areas of the country.

As per media reports, the Canadian government plans to reduce study visas to sustainable levels.

Currently, educational institutions in various Canadian provinces are free to admit any number of international students.

But now, the federal government plans to decide the number of study visas to be issued to international students and allot a certain quota to each province.

Though there has been a huge drop of over 80 per cent in study visas for Indian students this year, the cut in the numbers will impact Indian students the most.

There are over 340,000 Indian students in Canada.