Cap on international study permits sparks fear of rising tuition, programs cut, layoffs on campus

Vicky Quao was in class this week when she got an email about a new two-year cap on international student study permits — intended to stem an unsustainable boom and unscrupulous players in this post-secondary sector. 

"I stopped dead in my tracks" and felt disappointment and sadness, recalled the psychology major, who is minoring in business at Memorial University's Grenfell campus in Corner Brook, N.L. 

The cap applies to incoming students not yet in Canada, but Quao, who's from Ghana, says a nationwide drop in newcomers will profoundly affect schools and those already studying here — with many already anticipating their fees will be going up, again. 

"I'm going to have to maybe work two to three extra jobs in order to get the money that I need for school. And that's going to mean less hours actually doing what I came here to do: to study." 

Along with changing post-graduation and spousal work permit eligibility, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's (IRCC) decision to drop international student study permits by 35 per cent has sparked panic and uncertainty on Canadian campuses. With fall admissions already in process, students, advocates, administrators and experts are bracing for tumultuous times ahead. 

IRCC will distribute new permits weighted to population, but the approach provinces will take to distribute them remains to be decided. Those that have fostered a disproportionately large international student population — including Ontario and British Columbia — face a particularly challenging task, since the cap means a drastic reduction in what they've received.

The new measures tossed a wrench into current admissions, with such a short timeline to figure things out, says Dale McCartney, an assistant professor at B.C.'s University of the Fraser Valley who researches Canada's international student policy.

"It now requires provinces to have a strategy about how they're going to distribute study permits and how they're going to organize the system to relate to this new regime," he said.

"We are in the time period where international students would be getting their letters from schools, confirming their entry, when they would be contacting IRCC to get the documents they need … All of that is frozen now."

Prospective students have been thrown for a loop, according to school officials and student reps. 

"This change partway through a cycle … it's challenging, and you can imagine for students abroad who might be seeing this news, it could be creating some stress," noted Ryan Sullivan, vice-president of enrolment management at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. He added that that the New Brunswick school had been "more than midway" through the process of working with international students intending to start this fall.

Moving to Canada to study isn't a decision made lightly: it requires planning, co-ordination and financial commitment, said Azi Afousi, president of Ontario-based advocacy group College Student Alliance.

"There's so much that you have to look into and these plans are made ahead of time," said Afousi, also a Humber College bachelor of commerce student in her final year. 

"There are students who currently have their acceptance in hand and have very likely started making those plans, if not already purchased [plane] tickets."