Foreign students at Atlantic universities fall by nearly half since 2024

International students, Oct 1

13,775 full-time visa students

Universities in the four Atlantic provinces enrolled 13,775 full-time international students as of Oct 1, down 18 per cent from 16,795 a year earlier, according to the Association of Atlantic Universities.

Cape Breton University in Sydney, Nova Scotia, saw the steepest drop: nearly 7,000 full-time visa students at the peak in 2023-24, and 1,388 this year.

The association says federal visa officers reject students bound for Atlantic universities more often than those headed to larger provinces, and that unclear rules are turning applicants away from Canada.

The federal government, right now, has restrictions on the number of foreign students who can come and be educated in our province. That needs to change.

— Tony Wakeham, Newfoundland and Labrador premier