The federal Minister of Immigration assures that Ottawa is ready to intervene and close questionable schools that abuse the program for foreign students if the provinces do not take their responsibilities.
Marc Miller said Tuesday that there are problems in the university system, but that some of the worst offenders are private institutions – and they need to go.
The minister maintained that the provinces are responsible for resolving problems in the post-secondary education sector.
But he added that if the provinces don’t do it, Ottawa will – although there are “jurisdictional issues” about what the federal government can do in post-secondary education.
A sharp increase in international student enrollment in recent years has led to increased scrutiny of the federal international student program. The Liberal government has had to cap the number of new study visas for the next two years.
More than 900,000 international students were granted visas to study in Canada last year; this is more than three times more than 10 years ago.
Critics have questioned the dramatic increase in international student enrollment at “questionable” post-secondary institutions. Some argue that this program could have become a back door to permanent residency in Canada.
Minister Miller presented as a solution his government’s plan to recognize post-secondary institutions that would apply higher standards of services, supports and results for international students.
“The recognized establishments model that we launched in the fall is still very relevant to this discussion, because we will be able to separate the wheat from the chaff,” he said Tuesday. And perhaps even — if the provinces do not assume their responsibilities — to close these establishments if they do not do a good enough job. »
To watch on video