In Canada, 115,549 work permit applications equating to 22 percent, were rejected in 2024. This indicates that a high number of applicants from Nigeria are affected, as Nigeria has recorded a high rate of visa applications to Canada over the years.
The high rate of rejection reflects Canada’s stringent approach to immigration, with evolving policies impacting skilled workers, international students, and visitors.
Visitor visa applications also faced a significant rise in rejections, with an extraordinary 1.95 million denied in 2024. This represents 54 per cent of all submissions, marking a sharp 14 per cent increase compared to 2023 when the rejection rate stood at 40 per cent.
Similarly, the rejection rate for study permits climbed notably, with 290,317 international students, amounting to 52 per cent of applicants facing refusal. This reflects a substantial 14 per cent rise from the previous year’s 38 per cent rejection rate.
In 2024, the country rejected a record 2,359,157 temporary resident applications, amounting to 50 percent of all submissions and marking a steep rise from the previous year’s refusal rate of 35 percent.
Why the rejections have risen
Although work permit refusals saw a minor decline to 22 per cent, the introduction of stricter Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) in late 2024 indicates a focus on filtering low-priority applications, while retaining essential foreign workers for sectors like healthcare and construction.
Canada’s recent population growth, driven by an influx of temporary residents post-pandemic, has placed significant pressure on housing, healthcare, and public services. Temporary residents accounted for 6.5 per cent of the population by 2023. To manage this strain, the government announced plans to reduce this figure to 5 per cent by 2026.
Randy Boissonnault, minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, also announced updates on reforms to the TFWP, building on changes previously introduced on August 26. 2024. These reforms affect LMIAs, which are central to assessing temporary foreign worker applications.
Since September 26, 2024, changes to the TFWP’s low-wage stream include:
Employer restrictions: Employers will be disallowed from hiring temporary foreign workers for a maximum of 10 per cent of their workforce under the low-wage stream, with exceptions for occupations in the healthcare, construction, and food processing sectors.
Shortened work duration: Approved LMIAs for low-wage stream workers will allow employment for a maximum of one year, barring exceptions in agriculture.
Regional employment policies: LMIA applications will not be processed for metropolitan regions with unemployment rates above 6 per cent, except for roles in healthcare, construction, and food processing sectors.
