Thousands of international students miss fall semester amid visa delays

Thousands of international students expected to survey astatine 3 Ontario colleges are missing the autumn semester, aft Ottawa announced it would further tighten Canada’s survey licence system.

Some schoolhouse officials are attributing the melodramatic enrollment diminution to a chilling effect created by the national government’s policy, and to visa delays that person resulted from a stricter approach.

Glenn Vollebregt, the president of St. Lawrence College successful Kingston, Ont., said his assemblage was expecting 1,600 caller planetary students this fall, but lone 775 are enrolled successful courses.

“This is not normal,” said Vollebregt, who confirmed galore of the students had occupation getting their visas connected time, and the assemblage has approved deferral requests for astir one-third of the students.

“This is … a nonstop effect of immoderate of the national argumentation decisions that we’ve seen instrumentality place.”

Ottawa announced successful January it would cap planetary survey permits successful 2024. 

Last month, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced helium would little the headdress by different 10 per cent, meaning immoderate 300,000 less permits would beryllium issued implicit the adjacent fewer years. Canada plans a bounds of 437,000 survey permits successful 2025 and 2026.

Vollebregt said the argumentation means Canada’s marque arsenic an acquisition destination has taken a hit. “Essentially it’s Canada saying we’re closed for business,” helium said.

Michael McDonald, manager of authorities relations and argumentation for Colleges and Institutes Canada, said colleges person expressed heavy concerns astir a driblet successful planetary pupil enrolments this fall.

“We are expecting sizable declines crossed our membership,” helium said.

McDonald said helium thinks the national changes person brought uncertainty — some for schools, which trust heavy connected planetary students’ tuition fees, and for imaginable students, who are deciding whether to travel to Canada to proceed their studies.

“We deliberation that benignant of uncertainty further depresses … enrolments and puts into question a batch of the recruitment efforts,” helium said.

Ottawa insists a headdress connected planetary students is indispensable to bring stableness to the country’s ballooning colonisation of impermanent residents.

“The yearly maturation successful the fig of planetary students couldn’t beryllium sustained portion ensuring students person the enactment they need,” said Michelle Carbert, an Immigration Department spokesperson.

“International students are not liable for the challenges that communities are facing, but the caller skyrocketing maturation of this colonisation puts important unit connected services.”

Carbert said overseas students are encouraged to use for visas arsenic soon arsenic they get a missive of acceptance from learning institutions to debar delays.

Mohawk College, which has respective campuses successful antithetic Ontario cities, welcomed adjacent to 1,500 students from different countries this autumn — astir 38 per cent less than past year, said Katie Burrows, its vice-president for planetary students.

“This is significant, and it is wholly retired of the norm,” she said.

She added determination is simply a fiscal deed that comes from not seeing the expected fees travel in. “This year, we tin negociate it. Going forward, it’s going to beryllium much difficult,” she said.

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The assemblage conscionable opened a caller 300-bed pupil residence successful downtown Hamilton successful anticipation of welcoming much planetary students, Burrows said — but lone 60 students are surviving there.

She attributed the alteration to respective factors, including concerns overseas students person astir their aboriginal successful Canada due to the fact that of authorities policy.

Another of the national changes would impact the availability of enactment permits for assemblage graduates, which were wide disposable successful the past but volition present beryllium restricted to areas that person labour-market shortages successful Canada. The alteration volition impact students who use for permits aft Nov. 1.

Visa delays besides origin in, said Burrows.

That has seemingly been the lawsuit astatine Conestoga College, too, which said 1,400 planetary students deferred their autumn programs to the wintertime semester.

“These deferrals whitethorn beryllium the effect of visa delays,” said Brenda Bereczki, the enforcement manager of firm communications astatine the college.

Brian-Paul Welsh, an migration advisor astatine Northern Education Consultants, agreed with the schoolhouse officials that determination are 2 main factors astatine play — overseas students rethinking their destinations and “significant” visa delays.

Welsh said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada had antecedently travel nether occurrence for not reviewing visa applications arsenic cautiously arsenic it should have.

That has changed recently, and present each exertion is being reviewed “quite thoroughly to guarantee that they conscionable the criteria earlier they springiness them a palmy decision,” helium said.

Another furniture of bureaucracy could beryllium adding to the clip it takes, helium said. Ottawa announced successful January it would necessitate provinces to contented attestation letters for planetary students, without which students couldn’t use for a visa.

Still, Welsh said the larger contented whitethorn beryllium the national government’s argumentation direction.

Students whitethorn beryllium holding backmost portion they hold and spot whether the anticipation of becoming a imperishable nonmigratory aft their studies is inactive successful the cards, helium said.

“The imaginable benefits mightiness not outweigh what they cognize it would really cost,” helium said.