At an overseas education consultancy in the Indian capital, Delhi, students sit with their parents, flipping through brochures from universities in Italy, Germany and Australia.
But one destination, once the top choice, is now largely absent.
"Until 2023, most of our applications were for Canada," says Shobhit Anand, who runs the consultancy, which helps students navigate the admission process, including visa applications.
Now, he says they have seen a drop of nearly 80%.
"People don't want to apply to Canada anymore. We are also seeing a very high visa rejection rate."
According to a report submitted by Canada's auditor general to parliament last month, the share of Indians in the country's incoming international student population was just 8.1% in September 2025 - a sharp drop from 51.6% in 2023.
There are a number of reasons: visa and immigration restrictions, high living costs and, in 2023, a diplomatic crisis that damaged ties between the two countries
For years, Canada held a strong appeal for middle-class Indian families. Its private colleges offered a seemingly reliable pathway - even for average students - to study abroad and eventually settle there.
The route was mostly straightforward: enrol in a two-or three-year vocational course, find a job after graduation and, within a few years, apply for permanent residency. The process typically took around five years, experts say.
It worked - until it didn't
At the same time, living costs surged and jobs became harder to find. Rents climbed sharply across major cities, while financial requirements tightened.
The Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) - proof of funds required to study and live in Canada - was doubled from C$10,000 ($7,227; £5,378) to more than C$20,000 in 2024.
"For many families, securing that amount is difficult - and with the risk of visa rejection, they hesitate," says Sushil Sukhwani of consultancy Edwise Overseas Education. "That became a major barrier."
As consultants note, getting a study visa has also become harder.
Study permit rejections rose froording to ICEF Monitor, which focuses on international student mobility. In price-sensitive countries like India, where studying abroad depends on careful financial planning, families are now far less willing to take that kind of risk.
So the question has shifted from how to go to Canada to whether to go at all.
"There's real fear. Even if you get there, can you make it work?" Anand says.
The Canadian auditor general's report also mentions concerns around a now-scrapped fast-track visa system known as the Student Direct Stream (SDS). Popular among Indian applicants, it allowed quicker processing for those who met certain financial and language requirements.
Approval rates under SDS for Indians rose from 61% in 2022 to 98% in 2024, even as officials flagged risks such as fraudulent applications, students not attending classes and rising asylum claims. By the end of 2024, the scheme was scrapped and scrutiny has since tightened.
The report said the scheme was being "targeted by non-genuine students seeking entry to Canada". While it did not name countries, it noted that almost all
Jobs are another big concern.
Many private colleges expanded rapidly during what experts describe as the "international student boom" - a surge in overseas enrolment, particularly after the pandemic, when Canada saw record numbers of foreign students.
But many of these institutions offered limited academic value and operated largely as revenue-driven businesses, experts say.
As a result, job opportunities failed to keep pace with the growing number of graduates, leaving many students unable to recover the high cost of studying abroad.
In Delhi, Anand recalls a former student who moved to Canada two years ago. After completing his course, the 24-year-old struggled to find stable work and relied on part-time jobs to get by.
"He could not make ends meet," Anand says. The student has since returned to India and is now looking for work.
