Who will be impacted by Canada’s cap on international students and why?

January 23, 2024 12:00 pm | Updated 11:48 pm IST — Ottawa

January 22, Toronto (Reuters) — On Monday, Canada declared a two-year limit on the number of international students it will accept, following years of rapid expansion that worsened the nation’s housing crisis. According to government figures, Canada issued around 1 million study permits last year, roughly three times as many as it did ten years prior. The intake will be reduced by almost a third under the current proposal. Here’s what’s at risk and how the new programs will operate.

Describe the details.

According to Marc Miller, Canada’s immigration minister, the Liberal government plans to impose a two-year temporary cap on student visas, which will cause roughly 364,000 visas to be issued in 2024.

Limits on post-graduate work permits granted to international students will also be imposed by the new measures, which is likely to drive them back to their home nations. In the past, the permits were thought to be a simple way to get permanent residency. Individuals who are enrolled in post-doctoral or master’s studies will be qualified for a three-year work permit.

Miller stated that spouses of foreign students enrolling in undergraduate and graduate programs at other levels of education will no longer be qualified. According to him, the decision to accept new applications for study permits in 2025 would be reevaluated at the end of the current year.

Why canadian goverment cracking down international students?

Because it’s very simple to secure work permits after completing courses, Canada has become a favorite destination for international students studying abroad. However, the increase in foreign students caused a severe scarcity of rental units, which drove up rents. Statscan reports that national rentals increased 7.7% in December compared to the same month last year.

The affordability crisis has been the primary cause of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s declining popularity. Ahead of an election scheduled for next year, Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, is leading Trudeau in opinion polls.In addition to the rental crisis, the government has expressed concerns about the caliber of education offered by certain educational establishments.

Whom will this affect?

The Canadian economy receives an estimated yearly contribution of C$22 billion ($16.4 billion) from international students. Many educational institutions that had grown their campuses in the hopes of continuing to attract students may suffer as a result of the relocation.

The province with the largest population, Ontario, took in the largest proportion of foreign students. A limit on international students has prompted warnings from several firms, such as the restaurant and retail industries, that there may be a scarcity of temporary labor.

Nearly 100,000 jobs are available in restaurants across Canada, and 4.6% of the 1.1 million workers in the food service sector in 2023 were foreign students, according to a lobby organization that spoke with Reuters last week.

Since each student needed to have a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) worth more than C$20,000 in order to meet living expenses, Canadian banks have profited from the flood of new students.Official data from 2022 shows that around 40% of international students are from India, with China following closely behind with roughly 12%.

In a statement, the University of Toronto stated that it is eager to collaborate with all tiers of government to guarantee that study permits are awarded in a way that acknowledges universities such as U of T and tackles the issues at hand.