Three of every four African students who applied for a permit to study in Canada were rejected this winter and spring by Canadian immigration officials. The study found that students from African nations were far more likely to be refused a permit than those from any other region.

Canadian immigration officials rejected 39 per cent of all study permit applications worldwide in the first five months of 2019. The refusal and approval rates vary dramatically by where the students are from and what kind of education they seek in Canada.

For instance, only four per cent of study permit applications from Japan and Korea were rejected this year, compared to 81 per cent of applications from Nigeria, 82 per cent from Cameroon and 86 per cent of applications from Algeria.

Overall, immigration officials refused 75 per cent of the applications from Africa. The figures only include applications for new study permits, not extensions. The figures do not include applications that were withdrawn.

Some of the reasons advanced why these applications were rejected, include if the immigration office suspects the student may not return to their home country after graduation; if the student doesn’t have sufficient funds to pay for tuition and living costs while in Canada.

It also depends on if the student poses a health or security threat to Canada, if the officer doesn’t think the student’s academic plan makes sense; if the application is incomplete or inaccurate or if there is evidence of fraud in the application.

Cameroon has been facing security challenges since 2016, and it is feared that the main reason the country's applications were rejected, falls within this line.

Countries such as Nigeria sends out over 12,000 study permit applications to Canada per year. Nigeria, Pakistan, Algeria, and Cameroon are countries with a refusal rate above 80%.