Ottawa: In a major policy change, Canada has ended the Student Direct Stream (SDS) with immediate effect from November 8, 2024. This move of Canada will affect thousands of international students. Launched in 2018, the SDS was designed to streamline the study permit process for applicants from 14 countries, including India, China, Pakistan and the Philippines, who met specific criteria.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has also discontinued the Nigeria Student Express (NSE) program, requiring Nigerian applicants to use the standard study permit application route.
IRCC will not be accepting applications under SDS and from now on, all study permit applications will be submitted using the standard application process only.
The SDS program, popular among international students as it provided faster permit approvals than the standard process – often within weeks – which now takes an average of eight weeks for applicants from countries such as India. To qualify for the SDS, applicants had to show a Canadian Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) worth $20,635 CAD and submit English or French language test scores.