🌏 Global Student Flows Canada

Hello 👋

By 2030, Canada’s international education landscape will be defined by the tension between capacity, policy, and competitiveness. QS’s Global Student Flows Canada models three future scenarios to help institutions navigate shifting enrolment dynamics, evolving immigration frameworks, and global competition, equipping them with the foresight to refine recruitment and partnership strategies for sustained growth.

This Week's Highlights

🔎 Canada. Access our latest global student flows report
🎓 Global Student Flows Insight Series. In-depth regional reports and webinars throughout 2025
🌏 In the News. US international student numbers hit a record 1.2M, the UK signals early enrolment recovery, and Australia moves to further regulate student visa volumes

🔎 Canadian Government Implements a Cap on International Students

Canada’s position as a global study destination is entering a period of correction, with international enrolments forecast to fall sharply in 2025–26 before stabilising toward 2030, an average annual contraction of 1% after a decade of rapid growth. Using an evidence-based framework, the QS Global Student Flows Canada report models three futures for student mobility: Regulated Regionalism, Hybrid Multiversity, and Talent Race Rebound, providing higher education leaders with the foresight to adapt recruitment, transnational education, and partnership strategies in a shifting global landscape.

Global Student Flows maps 4,000 mobility routes across 80+ countries – combining simulation, policy expertise, and indications of shifting demand.

🎓 Global Student Flows Insight Series

Forecasting thousands of student flows from 2,500 cities, 15 core drivers, 3 scenarios, 1 million simulations – analysed by global experts in policy, economics, and higher education. Throughout 2025, we will release 12 incisive reports and expert-led webinars, featuring forecasts through 2030, market intelligence to inform your TNE strategy, rankings analysis, and much more.

🌎 North America

🇺🇸 USA employers project essentially flat hiring for the Class of 2026, with only a slight 1.6% increase expected

🇺🇸 USA international student numbers reach a record ~1.2 million in 2024–25, though early 2025–26 data show slight declines driven by drops in graduate and new-student enrolments

🇺🇸 USA Cornell reaches a US$60M deal restoring over US$250M in frozen federal funding and agreeing to stricter reporting requirements

🌏 Europe and Central Asia

🇬🇧 UK business schools report early recovery, with more institutions seeing international enrolment growth despite ongoing policy pressures

🌏 East Asia and Pacific

🇦🇺 Australia is tightening its “managed growth” strategy with Ministerial Direction 115, further controlling student visa volumes while incentivising compliant, high-quality providers

🇳🇿 New Zealand raises student work hours to 25 per week from November 2025 while warning of increased risks of exploitation and calling for stronger protections

🌏 South Asia

🇮🇳 India’s edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah is preparing a ₹3,480 crore IPO, becoming the first major Indian edtech company to go public

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