Ontario, home to half the country’s foreign students, will require to provide guaranteed housing available to colleges and universities for incoming students.
- The move followed a cap on international students visas imposed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, which was aimed at the surge of issues over temporary migrants that pushed up rents and housing prices.
- New provincial measures also include a review of programs offered by institutions that have a “sizeable amount” of foreign students to ensure that they meet labour market demands, according to a statement on Friday from Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
- Colleges and universities' minister, Jill Dunlop, says, “The challenges stemming from the recent spike in students coming to Canada, including predatory practices by bad-actor recruiters, misinformation regarding citizenship and permanent residency, false promises of guaranteed employment, and inadequate housing for students, require immediate attention and collaborative action."
- The province will also ban new partnerships between public and private colleges, which were seen as a key factor behind the threefold increase in foreign students over the past decade.
- Many of these students use education to gain post-graduate work permits and eventual permanent residency.
- Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller has demanded that provinces take stronger action to curtail exploitation of foreign students.
- Provinces are primarily responsible for funding post-secondary schools and classifying them as designated learning institutions.
- International students, who pay an average of five times as much as Canadian tuition, have been relied on by universities and colleges to supplement government funding.
Read Bloomberg News' Original Article
Thanthong-Knight, Randy. (January 26, 2024) Ontario to Compel Colleges to Guarantee Foreign Student Housing. Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news...
