Feds to consider caps on int'l study permits as housing crisis grows: Fraser
CTV
Canada is looking to crack down on unscrupulous schools that are cashing in on the big bucks of international student tuition fees without putting any thought into where those students are going to live, Housing Minister Sean Fraser said Monday.
Canada is looking to crack down on unscrupulous schools that are cashing in on the big bucks of international student tuition fees without putting any thought into where those students are going to live, Housing Minister Sean Fraser said Monday.
He was speaking in Charlottetown just before the first session of a three-day Liberal cabinet retreat where the country's worsening housing crisis is expected to dominate discussions.
Fraser acknowledged the housing crisis is a complex problem rooted in decades of underinvestment, particularly in social housing, by previous Liberal and Conservative governments alike. But he said one area that needs immediate attention is the explosive growth in international students recruited to Canada in recent years.
Fraser said putting a cap on those enrolments is an option, but first the government has to meet with the schools to look at what role they can play to alleviate the pressure on housing. He was careful to say not all schools are part of the problem.
"When you see stories about the exploitation of international students with some institutions, if I can be completely candid, that I'm convinced have come to exist purely to profit off the backs of vulnerable international students rather than provide quality education to the future permanent residents and citizens of Canada," Fraser said.
He said you have to ask "some pretty tough questions" when schools that already have "five to six times as many students enrolled as they have spaces for" in student housing continue to recruit and increase enrolments.
In 2014, Canada set a target to increase international student enrolment from about 240,000 to more than 450,000 by 2022. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada reported that there were more than 807,000 international study permit holders in Canada in December.
