The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that Royal Bank of Canada says a recently announced cap on new study permits will not lead to an outright decrease in demand for rental housing from international students this year. A Canadian Press dispatch to the Post says, however, that RBC finds the expected increase in rental demand from international students could eventually fall by about 50 per cent as a result of the policy. The government announced a temporary cap on new study permits over the next two years, as it tries to get a handle on sharp growth in international student enrolments at Canadian postsecondary institutions. The number of new visas handed out this year will be capped at 364,000, a 35-per-cent decrease from the 560,000 issued last year. "Even though we're going to be limiting the number of international study permits to about half in 2024 relative to what was issued in 2023, that likely won't translate to an immediate fall in the total number of international students in Canada," said economist Rachel Battaglia, the author of the report. "And because of that, it likely won't lead to an outright decline in the number of rental units demanded by international students in Canada this year."