Canada moves to reform its international student program

[emily]

Canada moves to reform its international student program

From a new process to verify admission letters to issuing work permits based on labour-market needs, the immigration minister says the changes will boost the system’s integrity.
By Nicholas Keung Immigration Reporter
Friday, October 27, 2023
Starting on Dec. 1, Canadian colleges and universities that are enrolling international students will have to verify each applicant’s acceptance letter directly with immigration officials before a study permit is issued.
The new process is one of the reforms announced Friday for Canada’s international student program, and it comes in the wake of a fraud investigation this year that found education agents had provided some 300 international students from India with doctored admission letters to Canadian colleges.
Also, beginning in the fall semester next year, the Immigration Department will start a “recognized” institution regime to vet colleges and universities based on yet-to-be-revealed criteria so the study permit applications from trusted institutions will be processed quicker.
Further reforms to the post-graduation work-permit program will also be introduced to ensure it meet the needs of the Canadian labour market, as well as regional and Francophone immigration goals, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Friday.
“We will continue to improve Canada’s international student program by protecting students and weeding out those who try to take advantage of them,” Miller said in a statement.
“Whether an international student stays and works after graduation or returns home, we want their time as a student in Canada to be beneficial to their growth and aspirations.”
The International Student Program has been under immense scrutiny in the past few years, criticized by observers as a cash cow for the financially strapped post-secondary sector and a scam billed by unscrupulous agents as a short-cut for permanent residence in Canada.
International students, through their spending and tuition, contribute $22 billion to the Canadian economy and support 200,000 jobs in the country. The number of study permit holders in Canada has tripled in the past decade from 300,000 in 2013 to 900,000 this year.
These students pay as much as four times the tuition of their domestic counterparts, to help fill classroom seats and, in doing so, keep courses open for domestic students who otherwise would have fewer options from which to choose.
The largest growth of international enrollment has been seen in the college sector because its programs are less expensive and shorter than university programs, but still allow students to work and to qualify for the post-graduation work permits.
International students have also been welcomed by employers desperate for temporary help at businesses such as gas stations, restaurants and factories.
However, a growing number of students have complained about abuse and exploitation by employers and landlords and that the experience in Canada has not lived up to their expectations.
They have also reported financial hardship and mental health issues, because they rely on their employment in Canada to support themselves and their families back home, who sometimes have to sell their lands and take on loans to support students’ education here.
Critics have urged the federal government to focus more on the quality than the quantity of international students it’s admitting to the country. Amid Canada’s current housing crisis, some suggested a cap on the student intake and raising the amount of money required in the bank account of a prospective student from the current $10,000 threshold.
Currently, students’ admission letters are reviewed by an immigration officer on an individual basis and not done automatically. Miller said the new verification requirement, along with the other reforms, will help strengthen the international student program and better protect genuine students from fraud.

[emily]

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-re ... dents.html