Auditor-General plans probe of international student program

Globe and Mail

5 days ago

The federal Auditor-General's office is planning an audit of the international student program, which has been mired in controversy over a rapid influx of foreign students in recent years.
A spokesperson for the office confirmed to The Globe and Mail that there will be an audit, and a report is expected to be tabled in Parliament next year.
The government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau was heavily criticized for the rapid increase in immigration after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, driven in part by a sharp rise in the number of international students in the country.
There were more than one million international students in 2023, which was about three times the number of permits a decade earlier.
The increase in immigration fuelled record population growth that strained the housing market – pushing up both home prices and rents – and put pressure on other services such as health care.
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The Bank of Canada weighed in on the issue in late 2023, warning that high immigration was putting pressure on inflation via increased housing demand.
The federal government eventually responded to the criticism with a series of changes, including a two-year cap that aimed to cut the number of study permits it issued by about a third in the first year.
While the surge in international students prompted a number of concerns about the program, it's unclear what exactly the Auditor- General will be examining in the coming audit.
Claire Beaudry, a spokesperson for the AG's office, said in an e-mail that 'the audit is in its planning phase at this time, so providing information on scope and timelines is premature.'
The increase in the number of international students in Canada raised concerns about the type of institutions that were accepting them and the quality of education students were receiving.
Colleges, including private career colleges, were particularly scrutinized for rapidly expanding their foreign-student admissions.
Postsecondary institutions benefited financially from admitting more international students, because their tuition rates are much higher than the ones charged to domestic students.
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Many international students were willing to pay those exorbitant fees to come to Canada, frequently with the hope of securing permanent-residency status after their graduation.
The federal government was blamed for loosening rules that critics say contributed to this influx, including lifting the cap on the number of hours international students could work to help businesses find workers in a tight labour market.
Mikal Skuterud, an economics professor at the University of Waterloo who was a vocal critic of the previous Liberal government's immigration policies, said there are many elements of the international student program the Auditor-General could look at. That includes the cap on study permits and pathways to permanent residency.
Mr. Skuterud said the federal government responded with a blunt tool – caps on permits – to the influx of students coming to the country, but that it's unclear how Ottawa plans to proceed with the program.
'In that sense, it would be extremely valuable to have the AG look at this and provide some input,' Mr. Skuterud said in an interview.
Data for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada show that there were just under one million international students in the country last year.
But the number of new permits issued fell to about 516,000, down from about 681,000 in 2023.
The federal government says it plans to issue 437,000 study permits this year.