The federal government says it won’t process international student visas for schools that aren’t keeping active enrolment records.
The government is calling the move a response to “integrity challenges” facing the international student program, which has come under greater scrutiny as Canada faces a housing and cost of living crisis that has posed significant challenges to communities with large numbers of international students.
The federal government is also facing backlash around the program’s loose rule enforcement and a probe that led to the discovery of thousands of fraudulent student visas.
“The regulatory amendments would allow IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) to effectively respond to integrity challenges and address common occurrences of unethical behaviours that undermine the integrity of the program,” reads the government release.
Under the proposed rules, institutions would be required to report whether a student is attending school and adhering to all study permit rules to the Immigration Department.
According to the Canada Gazette, students would also have to apply for a new study permit if they want to switch schools and before entering a new study program.
The proposed changes will cost an estimated $87 million over the next 10 years, including costs to universities and colleges, government implementation and study permit holders who want to change schools.
Another proposed change is boosting foreign student’s maximum weekly off-campus work hours from 20 to 24 hours, to better allow them to cope financially.
While the Immigration Department is responsible for foreign student’s entry and permit approval, the federal government’s proposed amendments will also have to contend with jurisdiction issues, as the education system is governed provincially.
Once granted a study permit by Ottawa, it’s the provinces who then decide if a college or university is authorized to admit the international student.
Federal officials said they struggle to monitor what goes on with students after they enter the country.
They don’t know whether a student is enrolled in the school named in their study permit or if they plan to continue their studies until they can apply for a postgraduate work permit.
Under the proposed rules, schools would be given 10 days to respond to requests from the Immigration Department confirming a student’s acceptance within a program.
Colleges and universities would also have 60 days to file a compliance report about the enrolment status of each individual student and confirm if they were actively completing their course.
Officers would be permitted to conduct random checks and make requests upon suspicion of an acceptance letter or if a school had previously failed to comply with its conditions.
Non-compliance would lead to an institution being placed on a suspension list with penalty periods being determined upon the severity and frequency of non-compliance.
The final decision regarding placement on the suspension list would be left up to Immigration Minister Marc Miller, with a maximum duration of up to 12 months.
Ottawa’s provincial counterparts have responded to the proposal with “mixed reactions,” citing fears that “greater federal authorities may encroach on their education mandate.”
Much of the public’s pushback to Canada’s international student program is the number of foreign students accepted annually, which has exploded over the past decade.
Canada took in over one million study permit holders last year, compared to 352,205 in 2015, when the Trudeau government first took office.