Canadian Universities See Surge In US Applicants Amid Trump's Immigration Crackdown & University Fund Cuts
The University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus has said that it has noticed a 27% jump in graduate applications from students in the United States as of March 1 for programs starting in the 2025 academic year. This percentage is more than what UBC received in all of 2024.
According to a Reuters report, students living in the US are now applying to Canadian universities or have expressed their interest as President Donald Trump cuts federal funding to universities and revokes foreign student visas.
With the rise in demand for graduate-level education, UBC Vancouver temporarily reopened admissions to US citizens for several graduate programs this week. The university also announced plans to fast-track applications coming from across the border who aim to begin their studies in September.
Similarly, the University of Toronto – Canada’s largest university by number of students – has reported a rise in the number of applications from the US by its January deadline for 2025 programs. Meanwhile, a University of Waterloo spokesperson reported an increase in US visitors to campus and more web traffic originating from the United States since September, according to Reuters. The universities in Toronto and Waterloo did not specify reasons for the surge in interest, whereas UBC's Vancouver campus attributed the uptick to policies enacted by the Trump administration.
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The Trump administration froze millions dollars in federal funding to several universities, pressuring them to implement policy changes and accusing them of failing to address antisemitism on campus. It has also initiated deportation proceedings against some detained foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and revoked the visas of hundreds more—moves that have sparked widespread concern over free speech and academic freedom in the US.
Meanwhile, Canada has imposed a cap on the number of international students permitted to enter the country for the second consecutive year, potentially reducing opportunities for US and other international applicants. Canada's immigration ministry said that educational institutions are expected to admit only as many students as they can adequately support, which includes ensuring access to housing.
The responsibility for allocating spaces under the cap lies with the individual provinces and territories, the ministry added.
Gage Averill, provost and vice president of academics at UBC Vancouver, linked the surge in U.S. applications to the Trump administration’s abrupt revocation of student visas and heightened surveillance of international students’ social media activity.
"That, as a result, and especially as a result of the very recent crackdown on visas in the United States for international students, and now the development of a center that's reading foreign students' social media accounts," Averill said.
Meanwhile, the University of Toronto — often viewed as a strong alternative to US Ivy League institutions — reported a “meaningful increase” in applications from individuals living or studying in the US compared to previous years.
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