Canada caps visa applications for foreign students

Canada has announced the establishment of a cap on international study permits, as the number of foreign students explodes and the housing crisis deepens, according to the government.

Canada announced on January 22 the establishment of a cap on visa applications for foreign students for the next two years, while it welcomes one million foreign students. At the University of Calgary, the ratio reaches one in five students.

Daya Karr left India to settle on this campus in the west of the country. It took her four months to land a student job, and today, she is divided on the decision of the Canadian authorities.

“On the one hand, I think it’s not a good thing, because I have a younger brother in India and I would like him to come here with meexplains the 19-year-old young woman. But if I think about daily life or what is happening in the country, I believe that it is a good decision to limit the number of foreign students, but not to completely cap.”

The engineering student instead pleads for better targeting of students. “If the candidate has a good academic record and coming here can give him a good future, then he should be allowed to come”she says.

“If someone is just taking random courses to come to the country and they’re not really participating in the national economy, I think they shouldn’t be allowed to come.”

Daya Karr, Indian student at the University of Calgary

at franceinfo

Canada has decided to limit entries into the country, in particular to respond to the housing crisis the country is going through. For foreign students, finding work or accommodation has become a real obstacle course. Daya Karr, for example, took four months to land a student job. As for Matuesz Salmassi, originally from California, he had difficulty finding accommodation.

“For most of the years I lived in Calgary, I lived in really overcrowded rental housing that just got worse and worse.”

Matuesz Salmassi, American student at the University of Calgary

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The young man also denounces international tuition fees which “skyrocketed“. The Canadian government assures that it is to respond to this crisis and the lack of access to health services that it is capping the number of student visas.

However, the solution does not convince the spokesperson for the university students’ association Nathan Ross. “I don’t understand why we don’t invest more in building houses. This puts unfair pressure on international students and puts the spotlight on them, they don’t deserve it.” In 2024, Canada plans to grant 364,000 international study permits, 35% fewer than last year.