I have heard that this number has even increased than last year..IRCC has issued around 350–400,000 new study permits annually for the past few years. With a reported refusal rate of about 39%, that means over 660,000 applications are filed. These numbers have increased substantially since 2016, especially at the offices handling applicants from India, but now there are fewer staff and many are working from home. The obvious result that should be understood by all is longer processing times.