Immigration Minister Marc Miller is expected to announce a two-year limit on the admission of international students. At a news conference earlier Monday in Ottawa, the minister said the measure will give both federal and provincial authorities a chance to address a system that he says exploits international students' high tuition fees and often results in a subpar education lead.
This cap will result in an overall reduction of 35% in new student visas this year, with certain provinces such as Ontario seeing even larger reductions of over 50%.
Miller highlights that from September 1, the government will ban students at institutions that use a private-public model from obtaining postgraduate work permits.
Additionally, in the coming weeks, open work permits will only be available to spouses of students enrolled in master's and doctoral programs, as well as professional programs such as medicine and law.
Miller emphasizes the federal government's commitment to working with the provinces and acknowledges that progress in addressing the problem may not have been as rapid as desired.
Due to the housing crisis, immigration to Canada has been the focus of attention.
Recently, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said: “It’s a very simple calculation. If more families come than there is housing available for them, that will drive up property prices.”
He suggested that if elected, the Conservatives would limit the number of immigrants.
“We have to bring this with us [immigration] Numbers corresponding to the number of houses built. Immigration growth should not be greater than the housing stock we add, the number of doctors we add and the jobs available.”
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First uploaded on: 22-01-2024 at 20:19 IST