The Canadian Government is set to impose a national cap to reduce the intake of international students into the country.
In an interview with CTV’s Question Period on Sunday, Canada’s immigration minister, Marc Miller, stated that a meeting between the federal government and provincial governments is necessary “to ensure that the provinces that have not been doing their jobs actually rein in those numbers on a pure volume basis.”
“That volume is disconcerting,” Miller said, in reference to the number of international students in Canada. “It’s really a system that has gotten out of control.”
Effective January 1, 2024, Canada increased the $10,000 “cost-of-living financial requirement for study permit applicants,” which essentially applies to foreign students, to $20,000.
“The Canadian government has faced criticism for welcoming an increasing number of immigrants — both permanent and temporary residents — while the country faces an acute housing shortage,” Miller said in response to the new development.
Meanwhile, new reporting by The Canadian Press — citing internal documents obtained through an access to information request — shows the goverment was warned by public servants two years ago that its ambitious immigration targets could jeopardise housing affordability.
The Liberals have set goals to increase immigration by 485,000 this year and 500,000 in 2025 and 2026.
Temporary residents, largely comprised of international students and migrant workers, are another part of the equation, with more than 300,000 of them arriving in Canada in just the third quarter of last year.
In order to help lower the demand for housing, Miller stated he will be considering the possibility of imposing a cap on international students in both the first and second quarters of this year.
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In response to questions about why his government is only now considering a cap, even though the idea has been thrown around for months, Miller stated that federal data must be sorted out before looking “a little more granularly” at what specific academic institutions are doing in various provinces that may stand to gain financially from enrolling more foreign students.
“We need to be doing our jobs and making sure that we have a system that actually makes sure people have a financial capability to come to Canada, that we’re actually verifying offer letters,” Miller said.
“And now it’s time for us to have a conversation about volumes and the impact that that is having in certain areas.”
A cap on international students would not be a “one-size-fits-all solution” to housing shortages across Canada, Miller noted.
When pressed further on the number of international students coming to Canada far outpacing the number of homes the federal government has announced it’s planning to help build, Miller also said housing is only part of the calculation when it comes to immigration targets. “The pressing need to bring down the average age of the workforce also needs to be taken into consideration,” he said.
While he wouldn’t give specifics, Miller said a cap on international students is something the federal government is considering, “and will continue to consider.”
“We have a sense of what those numbers would look like, what the reduction of those numbers look like, out of courtesy to my colleagues in the provinces, those are discussions that we’re first going to have around the negotiating table,” he said, adding the financial needs of academic institutions is also a factor.
