Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Monday that the Liberal government is now placing a two-year cap on foreign student admissions into the country, particularly to ease pressure on housing demand.
The cap is expected to lead to the approval of around 360,000 study permits in 2024, a decrease of 35% compared to 2023, the minister said at a press conference.
The government plans to weight that cap based on the population of each province and territory, meaning some provinces will see far larger cuts, the minister said.
The Department of Immigration will therefore allocate a portion of the cap to each province and territory, which will then distribute this quota among the various designated educational institutions.
Starting today, every study permit application submitted to the ministry will also require a letter of certification from a province or territory. Provinces and territories should establish a process for issuing certification letters to students no later than March 31, 2024, the ministry said in a news release.
Persons completing master's and doctoral studies as well as primary and secondary studies are not included in the upper limit, explains Minister Miller. Current study permit holders will also not be affected by these measures, he said.
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Some institutions rely heavily on foreign students, who pay significantly higher tuition fees than in-province students. (archive photo)
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ivanoh Demers
Miller said the moves come as the rapid increase in the number of international students is putting pressure on housing, health care and other services. According to him, these measures are also aimed at better protecting international students from fraud.
If the regulation of certain educational institutions falls to the provinces and territories, some of them have allowed this unacceptable phenomenon to continue for too long, he lamented.
However, he stressed that the housing crisis is not the only factor behind these new measures.
The decrease in volume [d’étudiants étrangers] will have an impact on the [prix des] Mostly rentals, but it's not affordable overnight [des loyers] is resolved as we have reduced the number of international students coming to Canada.
The main goal of these announcements is to stop the negative effects of a system [devenu] In his opinion, it was getting out of control.
Economic considerations
Some provinces would refuse to tighten the screws on educational institutions that accept too many students relative to the capacity of the housing stock in the region in which they are located, but also on bogus institutions that exploit the immigration system to make profits.
This is because these students represent a significant source of revenue for both educational institutions and the provinces that host them, as they pay tuition fees five times higher than permanent residents or Canadian citizens.
In 2018, international students in Canada contributed approximately $21.6 billion to Canada's GDP and supported nearly 170,000 jobs for Canada's middle class, according to government figures.
According to the Department of Immigration, Canada welcomed approximately 900,000 international students in 2023. In 2011 this number was just under 240,000.
According to Statistics Canada, Ontario has attracted the largest proportion of international students since the 2000s. This attraction rate increased from 37% in the 2000 to 2004 cohort to 49% in the 2015 to 2019 cohort.
Further measures announced
Minister Miller also announced further temporary measures affecting international students.
As of September 1, 2024, international students who begin a study program that is part of a program license agreement will no longer be eligible for a work permit upon graduation.
Students with a university degree can apply for a three-year work permit.
Additionally, only the spouses of international students enrolled in graduate, master's or doctoral programs are eligible for an open work permit. Spouses of medical and law students also have the right to work in Canada, Mr. Miller added. “These are the smart people we want to keep,” he said.
Spouses of international students enrolled in other degree programs, including undergraduate and college degree programs, will no longer be eligible, the immigration department said in a news release.
To be clear: these measures are not directed against individual international students. They want to ensure that future students arriving in Canada receive the quality education for which they signed up, assured the immigration minister.
When asked what will happen in two years and whether these measures will be lifted, Mr. Miller answered bluntly: We have two years to right the ship. Things are a bit disorganized at the moment and it's time to get the situation under control.