PAL allocations per province were fully made public in mid-April, and multiple language schools are finding that they’re getting just a fraction of what they have recruited in previous years – or in some provinces, none at all.

Immigration minister Marc Miller rejected any exemption for language students who need a study permit, which are typically those who stay longer than six months.

However, one agent told The PIE News at the 2024 IALC Conference in Cardiff that his team has designed a work-around of the cap for Korean and Taiwanese students – involving the US.

“Our sales teams are trying to make solutions – we try to get the students through the US,” said Seo Dong-Seong, founder and CEO of Korean Taiwanese agency EDM Education.

The method, Seo explained, is to offer a course where students spend three or four months studying in a New York City language school – where most are eligible for ESTA visa waivers.

After that period, EDM is then moving them to a Toronto partner school for another three-month course, circumventing any need for a study permit in Canada.

“We think it’s a good idea, so we’ve tried to do it – and it [already] works now,” he noted, when asked how the market is responding to the idea.

The other method The PIE heard that is being used by Koreans was language students applying the working holiday visa instead of a study permit.

“Our sales teams are trying to make solutions”

The 2024 season of these International Experience Canada visas, which would allow for less than six months of language study as part of the Canada’s agreement with Korea in 2023, has a quota of 10,000.

Despite spots not being guaranteed and it taking time for a student to possibly be issued an invitation, YongSung Cho, general manager of BreakEdu, said the majority of students he’s consulted with who were considering the study permit are now looking at the IEC visa.

“Students might apply for 12 weeks or a little more [of language study], and then they can make a decision to extend when they are in Canada,” he noted.

As per the cap’s rules, students will not be subject to it if they apply for a study permit onshore.

That, also, is where a lot of the attraction comes from for Canada to study English in general for Koreans – the UK, Seo said, has quite a limited length of stay and students must go home to extend any tourist visa or student visa.

“It’s already familiar to international students, there are connections… and many, when they’ve finished the college or university, they can stay to work or re-enrol, so it’s easier. Canada is good for us,” he added.