Canada suspends fast-track student visa program for international students

Toronto: Canada has suspended its fast-track student visa program, known as the Student Direct Stream (SDS), effectively immediately. This decision is expected to impact thousands of international students, particularly from India, who were planning to study in Canada.

Introduced in 2018, the SDS program aimed to expedite visa processing, with permits sometimes approved in as little as three weeks. In contrast, standard visa processing takes between eight to twelve weeks, or longer in some cases.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) also announced the suspension of the Nigeria Student Express (NSE) program.

In a related update, Canada plans to issue 437,000 new study permits by 2025 across all education levels, including post-graduate programs.