The Student Direct Stream Program: How Successful Has It Been Across Different Countries?

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"A huge difference was revealed in the approval ratings for Canadian Study Permit applications made through the Student Direct Stream (SDS) compared to non-SDS applications. The statistics reveal how effective and efficient the SDS program has been in offering an expedited pathway to Study Permits."

Written by My Visa Source Team
Published on: Nov 5, 2021

A huge difference was revealed in the approval ratings for Canadian Study Permit applications made through the Student Direct Stream (SDS) compared to non-SDS applications. The statistics reveal how effective and efficient the SDS program has been in offering an expedited pathway to Study Permits.

What Is the Student Direct Stream (SDS) Program?

The Student Direct Stream (SDS) program offers an expedited pathway to obtaining a Canadian Study Permit. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) processes SDS applications within 20 days, given the application is complete and all eligibility requirements have been met.

The SDS program is only available to international students residing in certain countries, including, Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vietnam.

How Is the Student Direct Stream (SDS) Program Performing?

The statistics showed that almost 8 out of 10 Indian students were successful in obtaining a Study Permit via the SDS program. However, the approval rating for non-SDS applications from Indian students is just 4 out of 10. Till May 2021, the IRCC received over 13,800 applications for non-SDS Study Permit while only 1,300 applications for SDS Study Permit from Chinese students. Out of this, the IRCC approved 12,395 (almost 89%) non-SDS applications and 1,134 (almost 88%).

This shows that Chinese students are more likely to apply for non-SDS Study Permits. In the first 6 months of 2018, the IRCC approved 4,769 SDS Study Permit applications from Chinese students. However, since then, the number of non-SDS Study Permit applications has remained consistently higher. Also, it is an indicator of how the SDS program is not always the faster, easier, and more accessible option in certain areas.

Recently, the IRCC added 7 more countries to the list of countries eligible for the SDS program, including:

Antigua and Barbuda
Brazil
Colombia
Costa Rica
Peru
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago

How Did the SDS Program Affect Non-SDS Approval Rates in India?

The statistics reveal that as the SDS program was introduced in certain countries in 2018, the approval rating for non-SDS applications dipped. In 2018, the approval rating for non-SDS applications from Indian students was 71% in the first quarter and 65% in the second quarter.

However, as the SDS program was launched in mid-2018, the approval rating for non-SDS applications dipped by 39% in the first and second quarters of 2019. It did eventually recover back to 60% by the fourth quarter of 2020.

How Did the SDS Program Perform in Pakistan, Morocco, and Senegal?

The SDS approval rate is mixed across different countries. In 2019, only 664 SDS applications were approved for applicants from Pakistan, with 564 refused. Around 5,698 or 78.3% of non-SDS Study Permit applications from Pakistani students were refused.

Similarly, since 2018, the refusal rate for non-SDS applications from Senegal is at 78%, meaning a total of 5,698 refusals. Since 2020, the IRCC has received only 20 applications for the SDS program from Senegal. Out of 20, 7 were approved, while 3 were refused.

The IRCC has received only 45 SDS applications from Morocco since the third quarter of 2019. Out of this, 23 have been refused. While the IRCC favors SDS applicants over the non-SDS applicants, the high refusal rate may be due to the inability of international students to present an upfront $10,000 Guaranteed Investment Certificate.

How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect the SDS Program?

In 2020, the IRCC issued around 25,714 non-SDS Study Permits to applicants from the participating countries at that time, including, India, China, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Senegal. This number was at 68,181 in 2019.

The approval rating for SDS applications also dipped in India, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines, despite them offering stream services all through 2019. In 2020, the IRCC approved 21,815 SDS Study Permit applications from India, compared to 77,253 in 2019. The approval rating in China fell from 2,328 in 2019 to 1,358 in 2020. For Vietnam, the approval rating fell from 1,527 to 584, and for the Philippines, it decreased from 671 to 182.

Overall, one can say that the SDS program has improved the approval rates for Study Permit applications. Between 2018 and May 2021, the IRCC processed a total of 390,181 non-SDS Study Permit applications with an approval rate of 66.2%. During the same period, the IRCC processed a total of 312,546 SDS Study Permit applications with an approval rate of 79.4%.