Canada is trying to fix its foreign student problem with a blunt tool — it won’t work: Senator Omidvar
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International foreign students in Canada have become a focal point for dissatisfaction with federal government policies on several fronts, particularly their impact on housing. There are also legitimate concerns that many students, enticed by unethical consultants, are in Canada not to study but to work and stay, using education as a backdoor entry point.
There is growing suspicion that the international foreign student program, which should provide quality education to domestic and international students, has been hijacked by numerous stakeholders. These include provincial governments, which use the mega-bonanza of international student fees to beggar universities and colleges by capping grants or domestic student fees. The Ontario government actively encourages private institutions to partner with community colleges to gain the coveted “Designated Learning” status.
The explosion of educational consultants, particularly in India, who often mislead students and their families for exorbitant fees is another influence over which we have little or no control.
Reports indicate there are now more than a million international students in Canada. Since temporary residents, such as foreign students, do not feature in yearly immigration-level plans, their exponential growth has taken place largely under the radar — but no longer. Now, governments are scrambling for a response.
The simple solution is to turn off the tap. Let’s tie the entry of foreign students to the availability of housing, suggests Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Let’s wind back the number of students who enter Canada, as Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced in January. But simple solutions often miss the nuances inherent in a complex matter.
Perhaps for the first time in our recent history, a majority of Canadians are signalling they think the country’s immigration targets are “too high.” This is serious. Immigration has never featured prominently in our election campaigns, but it threatens to become a focal point in the next one. Clearly, something must be done.
Mr. Miller’s resolve to cut the number of international students across Canada, dividing the number of spots among the provinces, will have intended and unintended outcomes. He is the Minister of Immigration, not the Minister of Education, and herein lies the crux of the problem.
Starved by provincial governments of stable funding, universities and colleges have turned increasingly to the only other source of revenue available to them: student fees. A 2022 Statistics Canada report said the share of college revenues provided by public funding has declined by 12% since 2008. At the same time, the share of revenues from student fees has increased by 15%, driven mainly by the increase in enrolment of international students, who are often charged as much as five times more than domestic students. Ontario post-secondary institutions have become particularly vulnerable to financial pressure, with universities such as Queen’s reporting challenges.
The surgery we must perform here requires a sharp scalpel, but Mr. Miller has chosen a blunt instrument — and it will certainly bruise. The underbelly of the industry, which he describes as the “puppy mills” of education, should and will close down. The restriction of work permits granted to students from those institutions after graduation will limit the number who end up working at big-box stores and other low-paying outlets. Will these chains then raise wages to get the staff they need? Will unemployed Canadians work in the retail, hospitality and tourism sectors long term? These are questions to which we don’t have the answers.
As universities and colleges lose the international student fees they have come to rely on, we face the serious risk that domestic students will face a drop in the quality of education they receive. Provincial governments need to wake up.
The “blue-ribbon” task force struck by Ontario Premier Doug Ford has made sensible proposals to stabilize funding for universities and colleges, including “a one-time significant adjustment in per-student funding for colleges and universities” to compensate for recent, high inflationary cost increases and “a commitment to more modest annual adjustments” moving forward. These types of recommendations need to be heeded and implemented promptly.
We have gotten trapped in a sticky problem of our own making, but we can free ourselves if we go back to the basics of education. High-quality education for Canadian students should not rely on external forces. We should aspire to provide excellent education for foreign students so we can teach young people from all over the world — who can then take a bit of Canada back with them.
Unfortunately, in higher education in Canada today, the tail is wagging the dog.
Senator Ratna Omidvar is chair of the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology. She represents Ontario in the Senate.
A version of this article was published in The Globe and Mail on January 29, 2024.
Note to readers: The Honourable Ratna Omidvar retired from the Senate of Canada in Novembre, 2024. Learn more about her work in Parliament.
International foreign students in Canada have become a focal point for dissatisfaction with federal government policies on several fronts, particularly their impact on housing. There are also legitimate concerns that many students, enticed by unethical consultants, are in Canada not to study but to work and stay, using education as a backdoor entry point.
There is growing suspicion that the international foreign student program, which should provide quality education to domestic and international students, has been hijacked by numerous stakeholders. These include provincial governments, which use the mega-bonanza of international student fees to beggar universities and colleges by capping grants or domestic student fees. The Ontario government actively encourages private institutions to partner with community colleges to gain the coveted “Designated Learning” status.
The explosion of educational consultants, particularly in India, who often mislead students and their families for exorbitant fees is another influence over which we have little or no control.
Reports indicate there are now more than a million international students in Canada. Since temporary residents, such as foreign students, do not feature in yearly immigration-level plans, their exponential growth has taken place largely under the radar — but no longer. Now, governments are scrambling for a response.
The simple solution is to turn off the tap. Let’s tie the entry of foreign students to the availability of housing, suggests Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Let’s wind back the number of students who enter Canada, as Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced in January. But simple solutions often miss the nuances inherent in a complex matter.
Perhaps for the first time in our recent history, a majority of Canadians are signalling they think the country’s immigration targets are “too high.” This is serious. Immigration has never featured prominently in our election campaigns, but it threatens to become a focal point in the next one. Clearly, something must be done.
Mr. Miller’s resolve to cut the number of international students across Canada, dividing the number of spots among the provinces, will have intended and unintended outcomes. He is the Minister of Immigration, not the Minister of Education, and herein lies the crux of the problem.
Starved by provincial governments of stable funding, universities and colleges have turned increasingly to the only other source of revenue available to them: student fees. A 2022 Statistics Canada report said the share of college revenues provided by public funding has declined by 12% since 2008. At the same time, the share of revenues from student fees has increased by 15%, driven mainly by the increase in enrolment of international students, who are often charged as much as five times more than domestic students. Ontario post-secondary institutions have become particularly vulnerable to financial pressure, with universities such as Queen’s reporting challenges.
The surgery we must perform here requires a sharp scalpel, but Mr. Miller has chosen a blunt instrument — and it will certainly bruise. The underbelly of the industry, which he describes as the “puppy mills” of education, should and will close down. The restriction of work permits granted to students from those institutions after graduation will limit the number who end up working at big-box stores and other low-paying outlets. Will these chains then raise wages to get the staff they need? Will unemployed Canadians work in the retail, hospitality and tourism sectors long term? These are questions to which we don’t have the answers.
As universities and colleges lose the international student fees they have come to rely on, we face the serious risk that domestic students will face a drop in the quality of education they receive. Provincial governments need to wake up.
The “blue-ribbon” task force struck by Ontario Premier Doug Ford has made sensible proposals to stabilize funding for universities and colleges, including “a one-time significant adjustment in per-student funding for colleges and universities” to compensate for recent, high inflationary cost increases and “a commitment to more modest annual adjustments” moving forward. These types of recommendations need to be heeded and implemented promptly.
We have gotten trapped in a sticky problem of our own making, but we can free ourselves if we go back to the basics of education. High-quality education for Canadian students should not rely on external forces. We should aspire to provide excellent education for foreign students so we can teach young people from all over the world — who can then take a bit of Canada back with them.
Unfortunately, in higher education in Canada today, the tail is wagging the dog.
Senator Ratna Omidvar is chair of the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology. She represents Ontario in the Senate.
A version of this article was published in The Globe and Mail on January 29, 2024.
Note to readers: The Honourable Ratna Omidvar retired from the Senate of Canada in Novembre, 2024. Learn more about her work in Parliament.