Canada’s federal Auditor General has announced a comprehensive audit of the country’s international student visa system, as authorities intensify efforts to address widespread fraud, visa misuse, and institutional non‑compliance. The move comes as significant concerns mount over bogus admission letters, non‑enrollment by large numbers of foreign students, and allegations of human trafficking linked to Canadian educational institutions.
In 2025, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uncovered over 10,000 fraudulent letters of acceptance attached to study permit applications, prompting immediate policy responses. The discovery emerged during verification of roughly 500,000 files, revealing that nearly 2 percent of submitted documents were fake, while an additional 1 percent corresponded to cancelled or unresponsive institutions. Media reports indicated that around 80 percent of these suspicious letters originated from students in India’s Punjab and Gujarat regions.
The federal government had already introduced reforms in December 2023, mandating all post‑secondary designated learning institutions (DLIs) to verify each acceptance letter directly with IRCC before a study permit could be granted. That program was phased in nationwide following a wave of deportations in 2023 involving students who had used apparently forged admission letters to bypass immigration safeguards.
Auditor General’s Office will scrutinize how enforcement mechanisms have been applied and whether federal agencies and DLIs have upheld integrity standards. Sources suggest the audit will examine compliance with new rules, timeliness of institutional responses, and the effectiveness of oversight in flagging irregularities.
The audit request coincides with findings from internal IRCC data revealing that nearly 50,000 international students, including 19,582 from India alone, were reported as “no‑shows” at their designated schools during March and April 2024—representing nearly 6.9 percent of the total tracked student population. This large number of absentees has fuelled criticism and allegations of misuse of the study‑permit route to facilitate immigration or cross‑border entry into the U.S., rather than genuine academic attendance.
Canada’s immigration minister, Marc Miller, has defended the expanded verification process and pledged ongoing tightening of the student visa program, which contributes over C$22 billion annually to the national economy. He emphasized that fraud is not only illegal but exploitative—often targeting hopeful applicants via unlicensed consultants charging high fees for fake services. Miller noted that in 2024 alone, IRCC investigated more than 9,000 suspected fraud cases per month.
Concerns have also been raised over the potential involvement—or negligence—of educational institutions. Several colleges reportedly failed to respond promptly to authenticity checks, raising alarm among immigration critics and prompting calls for greater accountability from both the institutions and the provinces regulating them.
Observers say that the Auditor General’s impending review may provide a clearer picture of how systemic vulnerabilities have persisted despite reforms and whether policy changes since late 2023 have effectively deterred misuse. In the face of scrutiny, Canadian authorities appear determined to restore credibility to the international student program while safeguarding legitimate applicants.
