Cap on international students an imperfect solution

The federal government announced this week that it was putting a cap on the number of international students permitted in Canada each year. The measure is an attempt to ease the demand for housing, which is in short supply across the country.

However, the one-size-fits-all approach will hurt efforts to train international students needed to fill vacancies in industries facing a severe labour crunch. Child care and health care are two examples that depend on foreign workers to help meet the need.

There are also concerns about the cap giving Canada a black eye with overseas students who will look to study in more welcoming countries.

“The message has to be external, that Canada is open for business for international students. That’s hugely important,” Royal Roads University president Phillip Steenkamp told CHEK News. “There is still a commitment to bring a significant amount of international students. They make an enormous contribution to our economy and society, and we’ll continue to welcome them here.”

The Times Colonist reports that Camosun College and the University of Victoria have experienced fluctuations in the number of international students from before the pandemic to now.

Camosun had 2,094 international students enrolled in fall 2023, compared to 1,674 in 2019. UVic has roughly 1,600 international students in the current school year, and had more than 2,500 in 2019.