Canadian Provincial Study Permit Trends – Francophone African Countries Drive Growth in Quebec

Quebec’s robust English and French language education sectors and vibrant international student communities make the province a popular destination for students to study in. Despite a recent slowdown in student visas approved in 2022, Quebec’s international education sector continues to attract students from all over the world.¹

New full-year data for 2022 from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada shows students from Francophone African countries driving study permit approvals in Quebec.²

This is the third article in our series delving into the Canadian international education market by province. In our previous articles, we detailed study permit trends in Atlantic Canada and the Canadian Prairies.

Quebec Approvals Grew Steadily Last Year

Quebec struggled to keep study permit approvals up from 2019-2020, as the only province to not maintain study permit approvals post-pandemic. In 2021, Quebec started to see steady growth in study permit approvals. Quebec approvals continued to grow from 2021, and started to maintain a track record of year-over-year growth from before the pandemic. However, in 2022, Quebec was the only province in Canada with single digit growth from 2021 to 2022 compared to the rest of Canada.

Let’s take a look at new study permit approvals over the past six years in Quebec:

The province had nearly 40,000 new study permit approvals last year. This 5% increase of 1,800 approvals put the province ahead of the 2019 high that was nearly missed in 2021. The growth in approvals in 2022 is largely driven by Quebec’s growing approval rate. In 2022, 45% of international students who applied to study in Quebec were approved, representing an increase of 3 percentage points in approvals from 2021. Despite this increase, Quebec’s approval rate was well below the Canadian average of 57%.

Overall, Quebec has been slower to grow in approvals compared to other Canadian provinces. In 2022, the national average growth was 27% from 2021, and 64% from 2019. In comparison, approvals for Quebec were up just 3.5% from 2019. 

Let’s take a look at what study level students were approved to study at in 2022:

Although Quebec has historically been a university-driven market, particularly in doctorate studies, in 2022, university approvals were down 5% from 2021. However, in 2022, we’re seeing a strong rise in study permit approvals at the college and K-12 levels.

In 2022, college approvals and the K-12 sector made up for the loss in approvals at the university level. K-12 approvals saw an increase of nearly 1,400 approvals for primary and secondary students, and there was an increase of 600 approvals at the college level. This represented a staggering 36% increase in K-12 approvals and a 10% increase in college approvals in Quebec. With a rise in post-secondary studies across Canada, we are seeing more mature students bringing their families with them, causing an increase in K-12 studies as well.

How Did Quebec Compare to Other Canadian Provinces in 2022?

In 2022, we saw all Canadian provinces increase significantly from 2021 with some Canadian destination markets growing as much as 45%. Quebec grew more slowly than the national average, but is still showing signs of sustainable growth. Let’s take a closer look at how Quebec fared against Canada’s other popular destinations:

The province of Quebec represents nearly 22% of Canada’s population, but in 2022, Quebec made up only 9.5% of all new study permit approvals. This was roughly two percentage points lower than the percentage of approvals in 2021. In 2022, comparable markets such as Alberta and British Columbia had double digit growth, with a 36% increase in approvals in Alberta and 19% in British Columbia. 

African Student Populations are Driving Growth in Quebec

Despite the fact that African students are among the top ten Canadian student populations, African approval rates have historically been on the lower end compared to most student markets. Following the sounding of an alarm to encourage the Canadian government to look into African approval rates, we’re excited to see that progress has been made in 2022, with approval rates rising. In 2022, approval rates for Nigeria, Algeria, Cameroon, and Ghana rose considerably, reaching seven-year highs. 

With majority of the interest in Quebec coming from French-speaking countries across the globe, 2022 highlighted a new trend from some of African source markets:

In 2022, seven out of the top ten student populations in Quebec showed growth from 2021, with five countries increasing in approvals by 48% or more in just one year. Much of this growth was offset by the drop in approvals for international students coming from France, which fell by 29% from 2021. This year, French students accounted for 17% of approvals in Quebec, while in 2021, 1 in 4 students coming to study in Quebec were from France.

Last year, we saw more international students from Africa coming to study in Quebec, with a strong increase in approvals from 2021. In 2022, four of the top seven student populations in Quebec were African countries, including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Cameroon. All four countries saw an increase in study permit approvals. Altogether, these African student populations made up nearly 23% of all approvals in Quebec in 2023. 

Overall, nine of the top 20 student populations in Quebec hail from African countries. In comparison, only three of the top 20 student populations across Canada are African, showing promising diversity in Quebec. 

Let’s dive in deeper to see how Francophone African countries are driving approvals in Quebec in 2022. 

Francophone Africa Rapidly Growing in Approvals in Quebec

Algeria, Cameroon, and Tunisia have quickly become the three fastest-growing student populations in Quebec. This is largely attributed to the impressive growth in approvals rates that Algeria, Cameroon and Tunisia saw in 2022 compared to the previous seven years. Let’s take a closer look at how Algeria, Cameroon and Tunisia have impacted the growth study permit approvals in Quebec. 

Algeria has been one of the fastest-growing student populations for international students in Quebec since 2021. Last year, we predicted that Algeria would be one of the top student populations to look out for in 2022. As predicted, Algeria was one of the top markets to grow substantially in 2022. With over 1,600 more students approved, Algeria had 87% more study permit approvals in Quebec compared to 2021. This growth placed Algeria as the top Francophone student market in Quebec, and the third-largest international student market in Quebec.

Learn more about how some Algerian students can take advantage of international tuition exemptions to kickstart their study abroad journey.

Study permit approvals for Tunisian international students increased by 76% to nearly 1,700 approvals. Last year, Tunisia jumped from the ninth place in the top source markets leaderboard in 2021, to claiming a place as the sixth most popular source country in Quebec in 2022. 

With K-12 approvals on the rise as the fastest growing study level in Quebec, Tunisia has been a strong driver for K-12 international education, with nearly 300 more primary and secondary students approved to study in Quebec in 2022. Overall, Tunisia made up 22% of the growth in the K-12 sector and played a large part in the growth Quebec had in 2022.

Last year, Cameroon had an impressive increase in approvals, with more than double the study permit approvals in just one year. From nearly 750 approvals in 2021 to almost 1,600 study permit approvals in 2022, Cameroon had a growth of 114% in just one year. 28% of this growth was at the university level, with almost 240 more students approved to study at a Quebec university in 2022 than in 2021.

Nearly 34% of Cameroonian students were approved in 2022, up from 22% in 2021. This year-over-year growth in approval rates moved Cameroon up five spots in the leaderboard, making Cameron the number seven student market in Quebec.

Looking Forward

With approval rates on the rise for many African countries, we expect to see more African students choosing to study in Quebec. This continued growth in African students populations is particularly important for Canada’s francophone institutions, many of which are in Quebec, as Africa accounted for eight of the top 10 student populations for Francophone international students in Canada in 2021. We expect Francophone African countries to continue to rise up the leaderboard with increasing approval rates into 2023.

As approval rates for African students continue to grow, institutions in Quebec can attract more Francophone African students to study in Quebec by:

• Leveraging international tuition fee exemptions to attract students from (traditionally) smaller francophone markets and increase recruitment efforts in Francophone Africa.
• Promoting Canada’s Post-Graduate Work Permit Program (PGWPP) and other pathways to PR, including new bilingual and French language graduate pathways, for Francophone students.
• Inform students of Quebec’s uniquely diverse cultural landscape and relatively low cost of living compared to other metropolitan regions in Canada.

Stay tuned to ApplyInsights in the coming weeks for the next article in our provincial trends series, where we’ll be doing a deeper dive into study permit trends in British Columbia. 

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1. The terms student visa and study permit are generally used interchangeably for Canadian international students. Rather than student visas, Canada provides accepted international students with study permits, which allow those students to enroll in classes at Canadian institutions. When a student is accepted for a study permit, they are also usually provided with a visitor visa, which allows that student to enter Canada for their studies. For the purposes of this article, we’ll use the terms interchangeably.

2. All data courtesy of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).