Canada announced improvements to international student program. 

Recently, the Minister of Canada’s immigration, Mr. Marc Miller, has publicized new measures related to the International Student Program with the aim of strengthening its integrity. 

Improvements to international student program. 

Minister Miller emphasized that he does not intend to set a limit on the number of new international students coming to the country. 

However, in order to mitigate international student fraud, the Canadian government is implementing new measures to validate the Letters of Acceptance (LOA). These letters are required by interested international students to apply for a study permit in Canada. 

Moreover, by the autumn of 2024, the Canadian government will utilize the new “Recognized Institutions Framework” for Canada’s designated learning institutions (DLIs). DLIs are the universities, colleges, and educational institutions that the provincial and territorial governments authorize to admit students from other countries. 

The new framework will raise the standards for international students in terms of services, support, and results. The concept behind the new framework is that the DLIs who satisfy the specific integrity requirements of the IRCC will be provided certain advantages. For instance, eligible DLIs will be prioritized by the IRCC in terms of processing the study permit applications. 

Further details on how educational institutions will be able to get recognized and what will be the benefits will be revealed in the near future. 

The minister further informed that the first assessment of the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) will be executed by the department in the upcoming months, which hasn’t been examined within a decade. He added that IRCC will also unveil the new adjustments in the future. 

According to him, the primary aim behind this is to adjust the PGWP to manage the critical labor shortages in Canada in areas of great economic need as well as local and Francophone immigration goals. 

Canada is prepared to admit 900,000 International Students in 2023. 

Students from all across the world desire to study in Canada. Last year, in 2022, Canada accepted a record-breaking 551,405 international students from 184 countries. Also, around 807,750 international students had a valid Canadian study permit by the conclusion of 2022, which was another historic figure for the country. 

Notably, over the last 15 years, the international student population of Canada has quadrupled. There are a variety of factors behind this, including the growing global desire of the middle class to study internationally, as well as Canada’s efforts to attract international students in various fields, such as quality of education, employment opportunities, and immigration pathways. 

When considering the top source immigration countries for student immigration in 2022, India was the largest contributor with 226,450 students, followed by China with 52,165 students, and the Philippines with 23,280 students. Among the provinces, Ontario, with 411,00 students, and British Columbia, with 164,000 students, were the leading destinations for international students. 

According to the Canadian immigration Minister, Marc Miller, this year, Canada is on course to welcome 900,000 international students. 

In fact, the government of Canada is still issuing a significant number of study permits to international students. As per this year’s data, IRCC has issued over 280,000 new study permits between January and June 2023. 

This is a 77% growth as compared to the exact duration of the year 2022. 

International student challenges 

The recent improvements to international student program followed after the Canadian government attempted to deport over 700 Indian Students studying in Canada earlier this year after discovering that their letters of acceptance (LOAs) were fake. 

Among them, many students arrived in Canada in 2018 and 2019 for educational purposes. The Canadian government discovered the fraud when many of them had already finished their studies and were applying to attain Canadian Permanent resident status. 

According to a report, the letters of acceptance (LOAs) were fabricated by an unethical immigration consultant in India who has disappeared since then. 

Currently, IRCC declared that the international students who were not participating or were unaware of the fraud would not be deported by the government. Notably, this incident placed more focus on the subject of International student fraud. 

Canada’s Senate’s Report Emphasized the International Student Integrity  

Recently, a report released on September 20 by four members of Canada’s Senate highlighted the matter of International student integrity. 

The report discussed various valuable matters concerning international students, including the benefits and challenges. 

It spotlighted the key benefits of international students to the Canadian economy as well as their contribution to the country’s society and culture. 

In addition, the report also identified a number of challenges that can influence the integrity of the international student system in Canada. 

According to the report, one of the major challenges is posed by educational agents who function as a middleman on behalf of internal students in foreign nations. They play a key role in hurting the integrity of the international student immigration system in Canada. 

This is possible because many immigration agents may guide the students toward a post-secondary educational program in Canada that does not qualify for a post-graduation Work Permit (PGWP). 

If international students complete an educational program that does not make them eligible for a PGWP, it could be a complete waste of money and time. This is because they may not qualify to work and obtain Canadian PR status after completing graduation. 

Minister Miller’s concerns about international student integrity 

Improvements to international student program were expected as student integrity has been a major concern of Minister, Miler. 

This is because, since this summer, he became Canada’s immigration minister, he has talked about international student integrity several times. 

In different interviews, Miller has highlighted the importance of this matter. He discussed the integrity challenges related to the present visa procedure for international students across the country. 

Minister Miller emphasized that overseas students are being led by the false or unrealistic hope provided by the actors (individuals or organizations) who are attempting to take advantage of them, highlighting similar concerns highlighted in the Senate report. 

Miller said that IRCC acknowledges that this issue is a recognized problem that needs to be addressed proactively in the future. 

He further discussed the importance of addressing the issue of student integrity during the meeting with the Canadian Parliamentary Committee for Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) that was held earlier this week.