ApplyBoard Driving Higher Student Visa Approval Rates for Canadian International Students

At ApplyBoard, we know that the student visa approval process can be nerve-wracking for students. It’s why our Registered Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) work with students and recruitment partners to help them understand the important factors that affect student visa approval. To date, international students applying to schools in Canada with ApplyBoard are much more likely than average to be approved for their study permit. 

We’ll be comparing Canadian study permit¹ approval rates for both universities and colleges and the approval rates for ApplyBoard students compared to all international students over the last three years. We’ll start by taking a look at approval rate trends for all students and compare these trends to approval rate trends for ApplyBoard students over the same period.² Then, we’ll take a closer look at approval rates in Nigeria. Finally, we’ll share our thoughts on how ApplyBoard is helping students succeed, and what we expect to see for Canadian international students in 2022.

Let’s first take a look at Canadian study permit approval rate trends over the past three years.

Canadian Study Permit Approval Rates for All Students

From 2016 to 2020, Canadian study permit approval rates fell from a high of 69% to a low of 51%. This drop was gradual to start, with approval rates falling by only three percentage points between 2016 and 2018.

However, as the chart below shows, the pandemic accelerated these trends:

In 2020, student financial stability was impacted by the pandemic, with the closure of agencies that provided students with access to documentation and biometric testing.

Though 2020 was a difficult year for international students, 2021 was brighter. In 2021, Canadian study permit approval rates recovered with a jump of nine percentage points. In fact, approval rates in 2021 recovered to 2019 levels, hitting 60%.

Canadian Study Permit Approval Rates for ApplyBoard Students

Although the pandemic had a major impact on international students planning to study in Canada, approval rates for ApplyBoard students were more stable, remaining above all-market averages between 2018 and 2021. Overall, ApplyBoard students were more likely to receive an approved Canadian study permit compared to all student applicants from 2018 to 2021.

We can see the stability of ApplyBoard student approval rates compared to all student approval rates in the chart below:

In 2018, ApplyBoard students were three percentage points more likely to be approved for their Canadian study permit than the all-market average. In 2021, ApplyBoard students were nine percentage points more likely to receive an approved Canadian study permit than the all-market average. Approval rates for ApplyBoard students stayed above 61% during the pandemic year of 2020, despite all-market rates dropping to nearly 51%.

Approval Rates for Nigerian ApplyBoard Students

While the overall approval rate for Nigerian students in Canada stagnated from 2018 to 2020, there was an uptick in 2021. Nigerian students who used ApplyBoard saw approval rates 33 percentage points higher than the all-market average in 2021.

In 2021, more than 21,000 study permit applications were submitted to Canada from Nigerian students. This represented growth of 80% compared to the previous year, and was more than double the total from 2016.

The chart below shows how ApplyBoard Nigerian student approval rates trended higher than all-market applicants between 2018 and 2021:

Nigerian students who used ApplyBoard were more likely to receive study permit approval than all applicants. From January 2016 to December 2021, 52% of ApplyBoard’s Nigerian students who applied for a student visa to Canada were approved, compared to the all-market rate of 23%.

Over the last two years, our approval rate has been nearly double the average, with approval rates increasing for Applyboard students.

ApplyBoard’s Impact on Student Success

Although approval rates declined slightly from 2016 to 2020, 2021 showed promise for a brighter future for international students. The good news is that approval rates were, on average, up nine percentage points in 2021, from 51% to 60%. However, early indicators show that 2022 numbers are slightly down. We will be covering these trends in the next couple of weeks.

Canada is back on track and growing steadily. At ApplyBoard we are excited to continue to contribute to this growth and make international education accessible for more students. We’re working hard with our partners, including by investing in training and recruitment, to increase this growth and replicate this success worldwide.

We’ll be keeping an eye on study permit approval rates for all-markets and ApplyBoard students through 2022 to see if approval rates remain strong.

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.

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