The Trudeau government will cut the number of permits granted to international students by 35% in an effort to ease pressure on the housing market and social services. The measure will only have a “limited effect” on Quebec, says his Quebec counterpart.
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Ottawa will therefore issue a limit of approximately 364,000 study permits to international students per year for the next two years, a ceiling which will be reviewed next year. The number of permits granted in 2023 climbed to nearly 560,000.
This new policy, which aims in particular to “ensure a sustainable level of temporary residents in Canada,” said Immigration Minister Marc Miller on Monday, on the sidelines of a cabinet retreat in Montreal.
He assured that his announcement was not specifically related to housing, but to the poor treatment received by foreign students by the university system.
“The decrease in volume [d’étudiants] will have an impact on rents, mainly, but it is not the case that overnight, the price and affordability will be resolved because of the fact that we have resolved or reduced the number international students coming to Canada. It’s an element, it has an impact, but the impact and the main motive today is to stop a system that has lost control,” he declared.
Fellow Housing Minister and former Immigration Minister Sean Fraser applauded the announcement. “I anticipate that there will be a reduction in pressure on the rental market, but we will see the precise impacts. [au cours des prochaines années].”
These new limits will be adjustable according to the province based on their population, thus, “some provinces will see much greater reductions”.
“A limited effect” on Quebec
Despite the large number of foreign students in Quebec, the measure will only have a “limited effect” on the housing situation prevailing there since “the study permit issuance quotas announced will not affect Quebec », Reacted the office of Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette.
He recalled having already put in place, last September, policies to tackle stratagems used by unsubsidized private establishments to attract foreign students.
“The urgency for Ottawa is to act quickly on the asylum seekers’ file. It must better distribute the reception of these people across all provinces of Canada and reimburse Quebec for the expenses incurred in recent years,” writes the minister’s office.
As a result, the number of fewer international students in Quebec, which has many universities, could be calculated in tens of thousands.
Blame Trudeau, not the students
At the dawn of the resumption of parliamentary work, the Trudeau government hopes to regain momentum with this announcement, after half a year marked by frustration among the population linked to the cost of living and housing.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was quick to point out that Minister Marc Miller himself had recently declared that the international student program was “out of control.”
“Let’s not blame the students, let’s not blame other levels of government, let’s blame the one man responsible for this disaster. It is [Justin Trudeau] who decided to massively increase the figures to a level where the Liberals now have to admit that it increases the cost of housing,” Mr. Poilievre said on Monday.
“Yes obviously we must limit the number of foreign students because we do not have the reception capacity, and the system is in total chaos […]“, he continued.
Recall that Ottawa informed its officials two years ago that its ambitious immigration targets could have a considerable impact on housing affordability and increased pressure on social services, such as health and education. .
– With Gabriel Côté, QMI Agency