When the federal government first moved to limit the number of international students, Immigration minister calls restrictions 'blunt' instrument. Newly released data shows how unevenly the tool has affected individual Ontario universities and colleges, with some institutions struggling to fill their allotted seats and others requesting and receiving thousands more.
Data obtained by the Star shows striking differences in how provincial assessment letters (PALs) were distributed and used during the first two years of federal changes to the international student program.
These data provide insight into how policies are changing enrollment opportunities in Ontario's postsecondary education system.
To control the enrollment of international students, a PAL is required to apply for a study permit. It serves as proof of enrollment at a particular institution and ensures that students will count toward Ontario's share of the national cap.
The contrast between colleges and universities, especially with regard to the use of PAL, is “striking,” says Elizabeth Buckner, an assistant professor at OISE whose research focuses on the internationalization of higher education.
“Colleges continue to be allocated significantly more PAL but are being used less, so this shows how much they need international students, but demand for facilities has fallen sharply. The university sector is also struggling but has been less affected by these changes.”
And “in addition to hitting sectors differently, it’s hitting institutions unevenly.”
Conestoga College, long scrutinized for its rapid expansion of international student enrollment, received the largest share of PAL this year.
Conestoga also requested and received another 2,000 PAL mid-year.
In contrast, the majority of Ontario's publicly funded colleges and universities acted in the opposite direction: 34 of 47 voluntarily returned unused PALs, which were then redistributed, with eight schools being recipients, including the University of Toronto, Laurentian University and Humber Polytechnic.
The number of international students in Ontario is declining
Ontario is now in its third year of welcoming a dwindling number of students from overseas. The province will receive 104,780 PAL permits in 2026—a 42 per cent decrease from the current year—with a cap of 70,074 study permits, which is the number of permit applications that are rejected, revoked or delayed.
Since Ottawa introduced a cap in 2024 designed to curb the exponential growth in the number of international students, driven in part by low student numbers, “bad actors” and accused of worsening housing pressure — the number of study permit holders has fallen from about one million to about 725,000. Canada's goal is to reduce the temporary resident population to below five percent of the country's total population by the end of 2027.
“Universities acted responsibly in recruiting international students,” Orsini says. “We had comprehensive services. We had robust programs to support international students. Ontario universities were growing modestly… only 19 per cent of all our students were international at the peak in 2023.”
Adamson did not provide comment to the Star, but Statistics for 2022–23 show that international students make up more than 30 percent of Ontario college enrollment, and in some cases as much as 85 percent.
Changes in rules regarding international students
Recently the federal budget showed that limit on the number of new study permits next year will be cut to 155,000, about half of this year's total of 305,900. With 253,000 renewals for current and returning students, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada plans to issue up to 408,000 study permits in 2026.
With some exceptions, international students applying for the study permit must provide PALwhich often also requires at least a deposit for the significant international tuition fees. Each province decides how to distribute its share of PAL among the schools under its jurisdiction. In Ontario, home to the largest number of international students in the country, almost all PALs are allocated to publicly funded colleges and universities, and only four per cent are allocated to private institutions.
“Our government will continue to work together with all of our colleges and universities to protect the integrity of the post-secondary education system and ensure that the province attracts the best and brightest students,” said Bianca Giacoboni, spokesperson for the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research and Security.
But changing rules and policies regarding international students are “confusing institutions and confusing future students,” creating a real situation of instability, Buckner said.
Knowing where PALs have been distributed and how many have been issued, she adds, “is one of the useful pieces of data that helps us understand the broader situation facing the sector.”
Universities vs colleges
In 2024, Ontario was allocated a total of 235,000 PALs with a goal of issuing 141,000 permits.
Ontario public colleges were awarded 189,416 PAL certificates, but only used 55 percent of them. Public universities, by contrast, used 82 percent of their 35,460 allocations.
Among public universities, the University of Toronto issued the most PALs (6,165) in 2024, while Trent, Guelph, Ottawa and Waterloo universities used almost all of their allocations. The exception was Nipissing University, which used only 11 percent of its PALs.
What about this year?
In 2025, the number of PAL students in Ontario fell sharply, falling to 181,590, which for the first time had to include graduate students.
Taking this into account, as well as the overall decline, the province's public colleges received 113,793 PALs, while 57,685 were admitted to universities.
The inclusion of PhD and master's degree applicants in some cases meant that individual numbers rose: U of T, which had 6,395 PALs the year before, received 12,338 this year.
Beginning in 2026, graduate students studying at public institutions will be exempt from the PAL requirement, but will be included in the overall limit. So, once again, the numbers for individual schools will look different in 2026.
Which schools have given up places?
“Canada used to be among the top countries in the world for international student numbers,” says COU’s Orsini, but “we’ve seen Canada’s ranking as a destination drop and demand decline across the board.”
To prevent PAL from not being used, the Ontario government introduced mid-year refunds this year, returning a portion of PAL from schools that did not meet their targets by June. The system was later adapted to a sliding scale to reflect the different issues facing each institution, with approximately 3,000 PALs being reallocated.
Schools were also asked to voluntarily return unused allocations, with 14 colleges and 20 universities choosing to do so. Mohawk College, Trent University and the University of Ottawa each donated more than 900 unused PALS.
A total of 10,500 PALs were returned and redistributed to eight colleges and universities that requested more to meet demand.
The Ontario government said it will continue this practice in 2026 to ensure “maximum use of provincial allocations.”
