Humber held an information session earlier today to discuss what the government’s cap on international student study permits means for the school.
Last week during a press conference, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced the federal government is introducing a temporary two-year cap to limit the number of international students coming into Canada.
“A temporary two-year cap on new international student permits is the latest in a series of measures to improve program integrity, set international students up for the success in order to maintain a sustainable level of temporary residence in Canada as well to ensure that there is no further growth in the number of international students in Canada for 2024,” said Miller.
Each province and territory is given its own cap that’s weighted by population which is expected to take the country back to levels similar to 2022.
Andrew Ness, Humber’s dean of international education, hosted the information session.
“We have not been told, and no one really knows what the provincial cap is for Ontario. No one has made that public, and we just don’t know when to expect that information either,” said Ness.
“Note that for current students, study permit renewals are not impacted so you don’t fall under the cap, and you don’t fall under any of these restrictions in terms of applications, etc,” he said.
Students studying at the elementary and secondary level are exempt from the cap and anyone applying to a masters or PhD program is also given an exception.
Once an international student is accepted they will be required to get an attestation letter from the province — meaning the documents’ signatures must be officially witnessed — as well as their study permit.
Sam Isaacs is an international student enrolled in the computer systems technician program who moved from the Bahamas to Canada last year.
During the fall semester of 2023, Isaacs had moved back home for a while and worked a part-time job in order to secure enough money to continue living in Toronto.
“What I worry about is other students after me. I’m glad that some international students will still be able to study here, but I want other people after me to have the same opportunities I do to be able to accommodate themselves and to live in safe and accepting environments that might not be an option for them in their home country,” he said.
“For me, studying in Canada has been an informative and eye-opening experience, and it’s important to me that other people can experience that too. I’ve also heard that a lot of Canadian colleges and universities depend on the income brought by international students, so this legislation might affect the jobs of some of my friends in college who are Canadian who work on campus, or ones who are applying to jobs,” said Isaacs.