British Columbia has begun sending its new letters of authentication as now required by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to eligible colleges and universities so international students can apply to study in the province.
“Our ministry is moving quickly to ensure that we mitigate the negative impacts on our post-secondary institutions and that international students have every opportunity to succeed in their education in BC,” said Post-Secondary Education Minister Lisa Bear.
“While we all agreed that the status quo wasn’t working for anyone — not for students and not for our communities — the federal border doesn’t take into account British Columbia’s unique environment.
“We will continue to work with the federal government to ensure that any subsequent changes take into account the needs of British Columbia so that we can have a BC-designed solution that properly addresses our shared goals.”
Immigration Minister Marc Miller has closed study permit applications for this year at 606,250 in response to concerns that the growing number of temporary residents in Canada, including temporary workers and international students, have contributed to the housing affordability crisis and increasing strain on Canadian infrastructure.
Read more
Canada issues 1,470 invitations to apply (ITAs) under the lottery of all programs
Applicants for OINP Immigration must submit the Application Consent Form
Caps On Canada Study allows an open instrument, says education expert
“The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure that the number of study permit applications received for processing by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration … within the scope of the guidelines does not exceed 606,250 study permit applications for a year beginning on the date of signature.” THE Canada Gazette reported on February 3.
However, many in the post-secondary education sector have complained about the cap on study permit applications.
The president and CEO of the Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE), Larissa Bezo, has called the study permit cap an “open-ended instrument” and expressed concern that it could have serious unintended consequences.
“This is not the way we would have chosen to address these sustainability issues,” Bezo said.
“But if we look at this from 50,000 feet, what these policy measures do is give us an opportunity to be more strategic and intentional about ensuring a sustainable approach for the long term.”
The CBIE website describes the study permit cap as a hasty, one-size-fits-all solution that could jeopardize the benefits of international education that many communities across the country experience and rapidly unravel a strong global brand. Canadian education that has taken years to build.
Watch the video
“A 35 percent reduction in student visas is ultimately a signal to prospective international students around the world that Canada is closing its doors,” notes the CBIE website.
“These measures have the potential to cause irreparable damage to the EduCanada brand and in a highly competitive market, students may choose to choose other places instead, well beyond the two-year duration of these measures.”
British Columbia’s division under the new study permit rules allows 83,000 applications for university study permits.
BC expects to see 16.7% fewer new international students
This compares with around 97,000 study leave applications for university programs last year. Based on previous acceptance rates, Ottawa expects this to result in 50,000 approved study permit applications in British Columbia this year, or about 16.7 per cent less than the approximately 60,000 approved study permits for the province last year.
British Columbia’s distribution of provincial credentials will see 53 percent go to public post-secondary institutions and another 47 percent to private institutions. The allocation is based on supporting public post-secondary institutions to maintain their international student programs while managing growth for this year and for future years.
“Our government is acting immediately to ensure there is as little disruption as possible given the new federal requirements and the cap on international visa applications,” said Ravi Parmar, Parliamentary Secretary for International Credentials.
“We will continue to implement the set of actions our government recently announced to improve the quality of post-secondary education and to maintain and strengthen BC’s reputation for providing the quality that British Columbians expect and international students deserve.”
In 2024, private institutions will receive 27 percent fewer study permit applications than last year.
Excluded from this new limit on international study permits are those international students who already have study permits and are seeking to renew them, and the family members of a temporary resident who already has a work or study permit.
Also excluded from the study permit limit are:
- members of the armed forces of a country under the Visiting Forces Act, including a person who is designated as a civilian component of those armed forces;
- officials of foreign governments sent, pursuant to exchange agreements between Canada and one or more countries, to undertake duties with a federal or provincial agency;
- participating in sporting activities or events, in Canada, either as an individual participant or as a member of a foreign-based team or Canadian amateur team;
- employees of foreign news companies reporting on events in Canada;
- people responsible for helping congregations or groups achieve their spiritual goals and whose primary duties are to preach doctrine, perform functions related to the meetings of their congregations or groups, or provide spiritual counseling.
