QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
International Students
October 8, 2024
Welcome to the Senate, minister. On September 18, you announced a further 10% reduction in the cap on study permits for international students and a change in the eligibility for post-graduate work permits.
To obtain such a work permit, international students registered in public colleges will have to study in a field associated with priority sectors such as health and technologies. These sectors, identified by your government, don’t necessarily take provincial and regional labour needs into account.
This decision will have an impact on college programming and, by extension, on the businesses and communities in New Brunswick.
Minister, have you weighed the impact of this decision on post-secondary institutions in minority communities?
Why didn’t you give the provinces the responsibility of establishing their own priority sectors in implementing this change?
The very simple answer, Senator Cormier, is that the provinces never took responsibility for that even though I’ve been asking them to do so for a year now.
During the first round of measures I implemented less than a year ago, I made it clear to them that I’m not here to eliminate viable markets, especially not in vulnerable or regional communities, but I asked them to get back to me with data, market studies and proposals.
To date, Quebec is the only one that has brought a measure forward and asked for more temporary workers. Manitoba requested an exemption. We said, “Sure. We’re not here to tell you what to do, but whatever you do has to make sense.”
We had to get tough and make sure post-secondary institutions were in tune with the labour market, not offering programs that make no sense. It all has to match up with local markets.
The federal government doesn’t have a monopoly on truth. We need the provinces to participate, give us access to their market studies and tell us where the gaps are so we can adjust our programs accordingly. I’m not here to tell anyone they can’t have those jobs.
At the same time, I’m responsible for the agreement with respect to visas.
In accordance with the Official Languages Act, the federal government must take positive measures to enhance the vitality of official language minority communities, notably by supporting sectors that are essential to their development, such as employment.
The announced changes to post-graduate work permit eligibility could have a tangible negative impact on employment in minority situations.
In keeping with its obligations under the Official Languages Act, has your government assessed the potential negative impacts this reform could have on the vitality of official language minority communities?
The federal government has a special responsibility toward francophone communities outside Quebec and even inside Quebec.
As for this special responsibility in vulnerable communities, in small communities for institutions that are just as vulnerable, the government also has a duty to be flexible.
That is what I asked my department to do. We need the provinces in question to get involved. That is one of the reasons I launched the pilot project this summer to ensure that francophones studying at these institutions can have an inside track to permanent residence. That is appealing to them.
