Are Canadian Applications to US Universities Actually Falling? What the Data Shows
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 19, 2026 • Canadians Studying Abroad, Canada Higher Ed News & Policy
Common App's own numbers show international applicants to US colleges dropped 9% for the 2025-26 cycle through March 2026, but the drop is concentrated in Asia and Africa, not the Americas. Common App does not publish a separate line for Canada, so no verified Canada-only percentage exists.
📩 International applicants fell 9% by March 1, 2026, compared with the same point in 2024-25.
Applicants from Asia fell 10% and from Africa fell 16%, driving most of the decline.
The Americas region rose 4% over the same period, though that includes several countries besides Canada.
🎓 IDP's Emerging Futures 9 survey (5,800+ students, March-April 2026) ranks the US and Canada tied at 14% each as preferred study destinations.
78% of students now compare multiple destinations before committing, up from 66% in October 2024.
What Common App's data actually says
Common App tracks first-year applications across more than 1,100 member colleges and universities in the United States. By March 1, 2026, applicants had submitted 9.4 million applications, a 5% increase in overall volume compared with the same point in the 2024-25 cycle, according to Common App's Deadline Update for March 2026 .
International applicants moved the opposite direction. Common App counted 9% fewer international applicants at the same date compared with the 2024-25 cycle. The decline is not spread evenly. Applicants from Asia fell 10% and applicants from Africa fell 16%, together accounting for most of the drop.
The Americas region actually grew
Applicants from the Americas region rose 4% over the same period, according to the same report. That increase includes large jumps from Honduras and Venezuela, so it does not prove Canadian applications rose on their own. Common App does not break out Canada as a separate country line in its public deadline reports, so there is no verified Canada-only percentage to cite.
What is verifiable: Canada sits among the top non-US countries sending applicants through Common App, and the regional trend for Canada's group, the Americas, moved up while Asia and Africa moved down. Reading "international applications down 9%" as proof that Canadian interest in US schools is falling applies a number that describes Asia and Africa more than it describes Canada.
What the IDP student survey adds
IDP's Emerging Futures 9 survey ran from March to April 2026 and reached more than 5,800 prospective and current students across 118 countries. In that survey, the US and Canada tied as preferred study destinations at 14% each, behind Australia at 21% and the UK at 19%.
The same survey found 78% of students now evaluate multiple destinations before committing, up from 66% in October 2024. Roughly a quarter of students who ruled out a destination pointed to visa cost or visa difficulty as the reason. Students are shopping around more, not necessarily ruling out the US.
What the Princeton Review survey shows
The Princeton Review's 2026 College Hopes and Worries Survey polled 9,446 people, including applicants and parents from Canada and other countries outside the US, though it does not publish a separate Canada breakdown. It found 73% of applicants report high application stress, up from 56% in 2003, and 93% say they need financial aid, with 38% expecting total college costs above $150,000, according to The Princeton Review's 2026 survey findings .
What this means if you are applying from Canada
The data does not support a claim that Canadian applications to US schools are collapsing. It supports a narrower claim: international demand from Asia and Africa dropped sharply in the 2025-26 cycle, while the Americas region, which includes Canada, grew. If you are applying to US schools for fall 2027, budget for rising costs, check how many AP credits your high school courses will actually transfer, and expect longer waits on graduate funding decisions, a separate trend covered in our guide on reading a US graduate funding offer.