Released by ApplyBoard, the new public ‘Trust Centre’ analysed over 2,800 Canadian study authorization choices in June 2026, of which 1,370 (49%) were declined.
Across the denials, absence of monetary paperwork was cited as a reason for refusal in 47% of cases — an element ApplyBoard CEO Meti Basiri stated was mainly avoidable.
“Trainees who most likely had the funds to study, were refused because they might not show it in such a way a visa officer could trust. That tells us most were preventable,” Basiri told The PIE News.
“The barrier is rarely the students. It is how the application is ready and provided.”
Though rejection letters can contain more than one reason, trainees have been cautioned to “fix the money paperwork”. According to ApplyBoard, many applicants likely had the money however could not show it in a manner the visa officer could trust.
After monetary documents, other reasons pointed out were having family on the file, which triggers stricter review and was mentioned in 10% of cases. Having actually an expired PAL or TAL letter was cited the exact same variety of times– which leads to an automatic rejection.
In simply 2% of cases, students were declined for having hidden past visa rejections from any nation — which is counted by officers as misstatement and triggers a five-year restriction.
“The majority of these trainees would likely have been fine if they had actually simply divulged it,” said ApplyBoard.
On the other side, having actually already completed a degree and holding a conditional offer stood apart as elements separating approved students from declined ones, while prepaying more tuition charges did not help in regards to visa result.
The barrier is rarely the trainees. It is how the application is prepared and presented
Meti Basiri, ApplyBoard
Last year, Canada invited less first-time international trainees than throughout the pandemic, as the study license approval ranking plunged to 36%.
While the information revealed research study license approval rates rose in every Canadian province over the past year, Basiri stated the pattern was “far from uniform”, with approval rates swinging widely from one province to the next.
He said the sector had actually “spent too long thinking why students get declined” and advised institutions to pay very close attention to provincial information and partner information as Canadian higher education looks for to move from volume to quality in worldwide trainee admissions.
With high research study visa rejection rates across the ‘big 4’ study destinations, ApplyBoard plans to introduce a UK edition of the Trust Centre next month, while an US edition will be released in September 2026.