Is it the End of Justin Trudeau's Legacy?

In the recent wake of a surprise event on January 05, 2025, Justin Trudeau announced his resignation from his position as a Liberal Party Leader after nine years of leadership and decided to hang up his political practice. 

While this marks a new beginning in Canada’s political aspect, it is also expected to influence the country’s international relations, including India.

Now, what’s next? The main concern that arises among Canadians and internationals is about immigration policy changes. Will Justin Trudeau’s resignation affect immigration? Let’s look into the changes hereafter!

During these nine years, Trudeau made many significant changes in the immigration policies that directly affected aspiring immigrants from India. 

Canada Immigration for International Students

As Canada faces political reshuffling within the country, the primary focus is to decode the upcoming changes in immigration policies. 

1.Cap on International Students

At the beginning of 2024, the Canadian government introduced a cap on international students, which had a significant impact on Indian students planning to study in Canada. In the initiative, the government limits the study permit approval, and it is expected to continue in 2025. 

This marks a notable change that can ease the process and increase the chances of getting your visa application approved, as the application backlog is expected to decrease compared to previous years. 

2.The Student Direct Stream

Earlier, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) suspended the Student Direct Stream. This SDS program has the highest approval rate of 95%, making it the easiest pathway for students to apply and immigrate to Canada. 

However, the suspension of this program led to a longer processing time and lower approval rate, in conclusion disrupting the dreams of thousands of students to study in Canada. 

But, the turning point was when the Canadian government introduced new study permit rules for the replacement of SDS. In this new policy, students have to re-apply for a new study permit and to change their post-secondary education institution. 

Under this policy, the government also increase the off-campus work limits for international students to gain more on-ground work experience and practical approach, along with their studies. 

This initiative is expected to be continued in 2025.

3.Express Entry Policies

One of the major changes takes place under the Express Entry system, i.e., the fastest immigration pathway to Canada. Firstly, an initiative was taken to reduce the points based on the job offer. However, it is expected that the Express Entry system will add some new categories in the draw, easing up candidates to immigrate to Canada. 

In Conclusion

While Canada is going through political and other concerns, the immigration of the country is still going on. Aspiring immigrants planning to immigrate to Canada can apply for their visa. 

Immigration policies are subject to change throughout the year, but this doesn’t mean to hold your immigration dream. 

Canada’s door is still open for migrants to work and settle in the country permanently.