Calgary schools, students unsure how they’ll be impacted by international study permit cap

Calgary universities, colleges and their students are unsure how they'll be impacted by the federal government's two-year cap on international study permits.

On Monday, Canada's Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced this temporary measure will result in about 360,000 international study permits being approved this year, which is a 35 per cent drop from 2023.

Canada currently has more than 800,000 international students — a number that has been steadily climbing for the past two decades.

Miller says that curve is too steep.

"We've got two years to actually get the ship in order. It's a bit of a mess," he told media Monday morning.

He says the goal of the cap is to address larger issues within the post-secondary school system and crack down on "bad actors."

"It's unacceptable that some private institutions have taken advantage of international students by operating under-resourced campuses, lacking supports for students and charging high tuition fees, all while significantly increasing their intake of international students," Miller said.

Each province's cap will be based on a number of factors, including population. Provinces will then determine how and where to apply the cap.

The University of Calgary, which has more than 7,000 international undergraduate and graduate students, says it is waiting to see how this will impact the university.

"UCalgary continues to value international students as part of our diverse student community," the university said in a statement.

Some U of C students have mixed feelings about the cap.

"It's good because there's too many international students right now, even though I am one," said Khaled, an international student from Bangladesh.

"But, at the same time, you don't want to ruin anyone's opportunities."

Samyog Chongbang, a domestic student, added, "International students pay almost double what we pay, and so definitely funding of the whole university is going to go down."

The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology had just over 4,000 international students for the 2022-23 year.

It says it is confident it will continue to have a strong international student presence moving forward.

"SAIT's diverse student body contributes to a rich and vibrant campus culture that fosters global connection. By exposing all members of the SAIT community to different perspectives, languages and cultures, we empower them to become global citizens, ready to tackle the challenges of the interconnected world," the school said in a statement.

Mount Royal University says it is watching this development closely and notes about 3.3 per cent of its students are international.

"International students, and international experiences for our students abroad, are a valuable part of our campus life. International students bring a diversity of experiences and perspectives to MRU, improving the undergraduate experience for everyone," the university said in a statement.

Bow Valley College is also unsure what future international student enrolment will look like but says it will continue to support optimal learning experiences both in and out of the classroom.

"The college will actively work with government officials for further details about future allocation, distribution and processes and will update our college community accordingly," the college said in a statement.

Mike Moffat, a housing expert, says the rapid growth in foreign students is a major strain on Canada's limited housing supply, making rent more expensive.

"It's about time. This should have happened some time ago. The provinces should have acted first, that higher education is a provincial responsibility," he said.

An economics professor at Concordia University questions whether this cap will actually address those concerns.

"I'm not sure that curbing immigration is necessarily the long-term solution for some of Canada's problems. And it does run the risk that it creates a more difficult time when they need to relax those restrictions," Moshe Lander said.

Jatin Shory, an immigration lawyer and partner at Shory Law LLP, worries about the long-term effect this could have on Canada's immigration program.

"In terms of attracting some of the brightest in the world in terms of trying to attract, you know, serious talent from the education space, Canada is going to fall in ranks now compared to other countries," he said.

Mateusz Salmassi, an international student and vice-president external at the U of C students' union, wants the federal government to prioritize other supports for international students.

"We've been calling for billions of dollars in investments of student housing. We've been calling for a permanent lifting of the work hour cap on international students, and we didn't see that today, so it's incredibly disappointing," he said.

The cap will not apply to students pursuing master's and doctoral degrees or to those at the elementary and secondary school levels.

Study permit renewals will also not be impacted.