Canada Implements Two-Year Cap on International Student Visas to Address Housing and Health Care Strain Amid Record Immigration
In a strategic move to alleviate pressure on housing, health care, and other services amidst a period of unprecedented immigration, Canada has announced a two-year cap on international student visas. Immigration Minister Marc Miller disclosed a significant 35% reduction in new study visas for 2024, emphasizing the need to curb exploitation of the international students program by institutions offering “sham” degrees, thereby contributing to housing and health care challenges.
Reflecting on the situation, Miller remarked, “It’s a bit of a mess, and it’s time to rein it in.” The cap will limit the issuance of new visas to 364,000, a notable reduction from the nearly 560,000 visas issued in the previous year.
The government’s commitment to prioritizing affordability and housing was underscored during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet retreat in Montreal this week, as outlined in an official government statement. With approximately 1 million foreign students currently in the country, officials are concerned about the potential for continuous growth without intervention, especially considering that the total number of foreign students has more than tripled over the past decade.
As Canada experienced a population growth of about 1 million people last year, reaching a record 40 million, concerns over an increased cost of living, including rents and mortgages, have become more pronounced. TD Bank Group chief economist Beata Caranci emphasized the structural problem on housing, stating, “You cannot bring in 1.25 million people a year but only create 300,000 homes on average.”
Minister Miller raised concerns about unscrupulous schools taking advantage of high tuition fees from foreign students without providing a quality education. Some institutions serve as a gateway for students to secure permanent residencies, deviating from the program’s original intent. Miller expressed, “It is not the intention of this program to have sham commerce degrees or business degrees that are sitting on top of a massage parlor that someone doesn’t even go to and then they come into the province and drive an Uber.”
The leader of the opposition Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, criticized the situation, attributing it to Trudeau’s granting of study permits to students attending fake schools. The ongoing debate over the impact of immigration and the surge in foreign students on the housing market and rents continues, with differing perspectives on the extent of their connection. Political science professor Nelson Wiseman noted that immigration targets are likely to remain high if the opposition Conservatives win the next election, projected for 2025, driven by economic realities such as an ageing population and the demand for government-funded social services.
