Canada's Language Training Sector in Crisis After Further Enrolment Declines
Canada's English and French-language providers continue to suffer from the impact of the international student cap and other policies affecting student visa processing.
The language training sector in Canada is facing a state of crisis due to further enrolment declines in 2025. According to Languages Canada's 2025 Annual Survey Report, the number of students decreased by -13% and student weeks by -19% between 2024 and 2025.
Languages Canada reports that the findings in its 2025 Annual Survey Report “make it unmistakably clear that the sector is now in a state of crisis.” The sector is now roughly half the size it was in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic.
## The Value of the Sector
Canada's immigration policies have had a pronounced negative impact on international student numbers in Canadian institutions. The result has been devastating for many institutions across levels and sub-sectors, but especially for language-training providers, which receive far fewer study permit allocations than universities do.
In the foreword to the Languages Canada report, Gonzalo Peralta, the association's executive director, notes that policy decisions have significantly reduced enrolments, forcing programs to scale back operations and, in some cases, close entirely. The consequences are felt across the country, with institutions struggling to maintain viability and communities losing the economic and cultural benefits these programs provide.
What is at stake is not only the sustainability of the sector, but also millions of dollars. Languages Canada reports that even amid this crisis, Languages Canada members contributed an estimated CDN$1.03 billion directly to the Canadian economy in 2025 - representing direct economic activity, much of it generated through export revenues - highlighting the sector's enduring value.
## Top 10 Markets
The top 10 markets for Canadian language programmes are:
| Rank | Market | | --- | --- | | 1 | Japan | | 2 | Brazil | | 3 | South Korea | | 4 | Mexico | | 5 | Canada | | 6 | China | | 7 | Colombia | | 8 | Taiwan | | 9 | France | | 10 | Italy |
All markets are down - some of them significantly - other than Canada, which is relatively stable. This fact alone highlights the damaging effect of immigration policies that of course do not affect Canadian students applying to their own country's language programmes.
## Destination Comparison
The Canadian language training sector is not alone in facing difficult trading conditions. In terms of student weeks - a more indicative source of volume for language programmes than student numbers - the change between 2024 and 2025 was -8% in the US, -10% in the UK's private sector, and -18% in Ireland.
In Australia, official data on student weeks for the English-language (ELICOS sector) has not yet been released, but:
- ELICOS's share of total international enrolments nearly halved between 2023 and 2025 (from 16.6% to 8.8%); - Student numbers fell from 97,200 in 2024 to 60,850 in 2025; - Visa applications for ELICOS study dropped by -39% in 2025 versus 2024.
Similar to Canada, Australian government policies are the major contributor to the sector's troubles. In Canada, the issue is the student cap that disproportionately affects language providers. In Australia, the main depressor on demand is the steadily rising visa application fee, which now stands at AUS$2,050 for English-language applicants.
## Languages Canada Vows to Continue Lobbying
Writing in the Languages Canada report, Mr Peralta says that while the findings present a stark and candid assessment, Languages Canada remains committed to working with its members and partners to advocate for the changes needed to stabilise and rebuild Canada's English and French language education sector, support learners from Canada and around the world, and ensure that these essential programs can survive and recover.
