Quebec universities are sounding the alarm over plummeting admission requests by international students wanting to study in the province.

The institutions say the drop is hurting their bottom line but has broader implications as well.

"These students are really important ... for our capacity to innovate, for our innovation, for the work that they are doing in our labs," said Geneviève O'Meara, a spokesperson for the Université de Montréal.

The Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire (BCI), which represents the province's universities, said applications from international students dropped by 46 per cent between April 2024 and April 2025.

In Montreal, Concordia Univeristy and the Université de Montréal both reported a 37 per cent decrease in applications for the fall 2025 semester, while at McGill it was 22 per cent.

WATCH | Why Quebec is seeing a drop in international students applying to universities:

That's in addition to a significant drop of 32 per cent the year prior, according to Concordia University spokesperson Vannina Maestracci.

According to Christian Blanchet, president of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and the BCI, for some universities, the number is well over 50 per cent.

The schools say shifting government priorities and restrictions on immigration, both at the federal and provincial levels, are precipitating the decline.

In 2024, the federal government capped the number of study permit applications that could be accepted for processing.

The measure was introduced to "help ease the strain on housing, health care and other services," and resulted in a 40 per cent drop in the number of international students coming to Canada to study, according to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

For 2025, IRCC, has set a target of 437,000 study permits for international students, representing a decrease of 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, in February, Premier François Legault's government announced that universities would not be permitted to admit more international students than they did in 2024, meaning the quota stands at 63,299 applications province-wide.

In a statement to CBC, a spokesperson for McGill University, said the reforms were introduced without consultation or coordination with the academic sector, leading to "persistent instability in the management of student immigration."

The tightened immigration rules are also tarnishing Quebec's international image and sending the wrong message that students are not welcome here, the universities say.

"Seeing our position decrease and our [attractiveness] decrease means that we are actually losing the battle for talent," Blanchette said.

Like O'Meara, Blanchette stressed the critical role international students play in terms of innovation, competitiveness and fuelling economic development in the province.

"International students in the research labs that we have, play a fundamental role because in a highly specialized laboratory, we do not have enough Quebec students to actually help the research that has to be done there," he said.

"International students are key to to enable us to reach the economic goals that we have."

In an email in French, a spokesperson for Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry, said the government is taking into account the province's capacity to welcome foreign students after seeing a substantial increase in recent years.

"That is why we adopted Bill 74, to regulate the presence of these students in the territory and protect regional programs," spokesperson Simon Savignac wrote.

Under the law, which was adopted in December 2024 and tabled by Quebec Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge, the ability of foreign students to enrol at certain colleges and universities is determined by certain criteria, including region, programs, language, cohort size, labour needs and "government priorities."

Savignac said universities are being invited to take part in upcoming consultations on the province's immigration plan, something the universities intend to do.

Blanchette hopes the government will reverse course on its targets and work in concert with the schools and other levels of government to change its messaging in time for universities' recruitment cycle which starts in October.

The signal for 2026 that should be sent across the world is "You're welcome, please come," Blanchette said.