Canada has announced that it is imposing an immediate two-year cap on new international student visas to tackle a housing crisis and target institutional “bad actors”, a move that is likely to impact Indians planning to study in the country. Immigration Minister Marc Miller said as part of the cap there will be a 35 per cent reduction in new study visas in 2024. The cap is expected to result in 364,000 new approved permits in 2024. Nearly 560,000 such visas were issued last year.
The cap will be in place for two years; the number of permits to be issued in 2025 will be reassessed at the end of this year, he said.
“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, we are setting a national application intake cap for two years from 2024,” Global News quoted Miller as saying.
The move comes amid pressure on the federal government from provinces on the increasing numbers of non-permanent residents entering Canada while the country struggles with a housing crisis, CBC News said.
Miller earlier this month said that a cap on international students would not be a “one-size-fits-all solution” to housing shortages across Canada.
More than 800,000 international students were issued temporary study visas in 2022. Miller said last fall that 2023’s numbers were on track to be more than triple the number accepted 10 years ago.
The move is expected to impact students from India who see Canada as a preferred destination for higher studies.
India was the first among the top ten origin countries of study permit holders in 2022 in Canada, with a total of 319,000 students.
Miller said that by imposing the cap, the federal government is taking action against some small private colleges.
The move will help the government to target institutional “bad actors”, he said.
“It’s unacceptable that some private institutions have taken advantage of international students by operating under-resourced campuses, lacking supports for students and charging high tuition fees all the while significantly increasing their intake of international students,” Miller said.
In some provinces, Miller said, the total reduction in permits will be approximately 50 per cent.
Provinces and territories will be left to decide how permits are distributed among universities and colleges in their jurisdictions. The cap will be in place for two years; the number of permits to be issued in 2025 will be reassessed at the end of this year.
In an interview with CBC News on Monday, Miller spoke of “degree-granting institutions that are giving fake business degrees” to students who hope to stay in Canada. The minister said there could be “hundreds” of such schools operating in Canada and that the number has “exploded in the last couple of years.”
In addition to the cap, the federal government will also require international students applying for a permit to provide an attestation letter from a province or territory.
“These measures are not against individual international students,” Miller said.
“They are to ensure that as future students arrive in Canada, they receive the quality of education that they signed up for and the hope that they were provided in their home countries.”
Miller also announced changes to the post-graduation work permit programme.
Starting in September, international students who begin a programme that’s part of a curriculum licensing arrangement (one where a private college has been licensed to deliver the curriculum of an associated public college) will no longer be eligible for a post-graduation work permit.
Canada’s issuance of study permits to Indian students saw a significant drop in the latter part of the previous year, primarily due to diplomatic tensions following the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Immigration Minister Marc Miller indicated that the permit numbers are unlikely to recover soon, citing the strained diplomatic relations with India. The tensions led to an 86 per cent decrease in study permits issued to Indian students in the last quarter compared to the previous one.
Graduates of master’s and other “short graduate-level programmes” will “soon” be able to apply for a three-year work permit, the government says. Open work permits will also be made available to the spouses of international students in master’s and doctoral programs.
The changes announced Monday come a little over a month after Miller first announced measures intended to target what the minister described as “the diploma equivalent of puppy mills.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said the blame lies entirely with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and called the prime minister “incompetent.”
“He is the one that granted the study permits. That is a federal responsibility,” Poilievre said.
Jenny Kwan, the New Democratic Party leader, also blamed Trudeau‘s “mismanagement.”
She also warned that the new cap “might punish talented students who seek to build a better life.”
In a media statement, Ontario’s Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop said her government recognises that “some bad actors are taking advantage of these students with false promises of guaranteed employment, residency and Canadian citizenship.”
The minister said Ontario has been engaging with the federal government on “ways to crack down on these practices, like predatory recruitment.”
A statement issued by Nova Scotia’s department of advanced education said the province “will need to assess the impacts of the changes made by the federal government once we have more details, including provincial allocations.”
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Following improvement in the security conditions for Indian diplomats in Ottawa, the Indian government has announced the resumption of some visa services in Canada from today, however, tourist visa for Canadian citizens remain suspended until further order. The announcement came after India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement emphasising the need for heightened security at India’s missions in Canada, with a focus on ensuring a safe environment for visa and consular services.
Sharing the announcement in a statement on X (Formerly Twitter), the High Commission of India in Ottawa announced the resumption of visa services through its Consulates General in Toronto and Vancouver, effective October 26, 2023. This significant development comes after the temporary suspension of various visa services, reflecting a careful review of the security situation that also considered recent Canadian measures.
“After a considered review of the security situation that takes into account some recent Canadian measures in this regard, it has been decided to resume visa services for the following categories with effect from October 26. Emergency situations will continue to be addressed by the High Commission and the Consulate General as it is being done currently,” the Indian High Commission said in its statement.
The resumed visa services will include the issuance of entry visas, business visas, medical visas, and conference visas for Canadian nationals. Entry visas are granted to people of Indian origin and to those who are dependent family members of employment visa holders. However, it’s important to note that tourist and e-visa services for Canadians will remain temporarily suspended.
The hiatus in visa services, which began on September 21, had broader diplomatic implications. In response, Canada had withdrawn 41 diplomats from India last week and temporarily suspended visa and in-person consular services in specific Indian cities, namely Bengaluru, Chandigarh, and Mumbai. These services will now be exclusively available at the Canadian High Commission in Delhi.
Widespread panic among Indian travellers ensued when certain media reports suggested that Canada was suspending visa and consular services at Canadian Consulates in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chandigarh. However, it is crucial to note that only in-person operations are impacted, and visa applications will continue to be processed. VFS Global also said VACs across 10 cities continue to operate normally.
While the resumption of services is undoubtedly a positive development, the reduced staffing levels may lead to some processing delays. The impact could affect Indian citizens by prolonging processing times, responses to inquiries, and the issuance of visas and passports. It remains to be seen whether the number of visas issued to Indian nationals will be significantly affected due to the limited staffing capacity. Prior to the disruption caused by the diplomatic dispute, Canada was issuing approximately 15,000 visas to Indian nationals each week.
As the situation continues to evolve, travellers and applicants are encouraged to stay informed through official channels and to anticipate potential processing delays when applying for Indian visas through the reopened services. India’s decision to reinstate these visa categories is expected to facilitate essential travel and business engagements between the two nations, promoting cultural exchange and strengthening ties.
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Amid worsening bilateral ties in the wake of tit-for-tat expulsions over the alleged Indian involvement of a Khalistleader on its soil, the Canadian government on Tuesday issued a travel advisory, asking his citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution”.
Triggering a tense diplomatic standoff earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that India had a role in the killing of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“Avoid all travel to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir due to the unpredictable security situation. There is a threat of terrorism, militancy, civil unrest and kidnapping. This advisory excludes travelling to or within the Union Territory of Ladakh,” the Canadian government stated in its travel advisory for India.
“Avoid gatherings and demonstrations,” the advisory added.
The advisory was updated after Trudeau said on Tuesday that Ottawa wants New Delhi to address the issue properly, according to CBC News. The Canadian PM added, however, that his country wasn’t trying to provoke India by any means.
“We are not looking to provoke or escalate. We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them,” the Canadian PM told reporters, adding, “The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that.”
“As for Canada, I said yesterday…we are going to remain calm, we are going to remain grounded in our democratic principles and values…. and we are going to follow the evidence and make sure the work is done,” he added.
Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Philip Green, highlighted the importance of people as the “living bridge” between the two countries. He mentioned that India is the first country to surpass pre-pandemic levels of travel to Australia, with direct flights between the nations nearly tripling. Green also emphasized the strong bond between Australia and India, including the presence of nearly a million people of Indian origin living in Australia.
Nijjar, who was wanted in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada’s Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.India rejected the allegation of involvement in the murder of the Khalistani leader, with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) terming the charge ‘absurd ‘and ‘motivated’. “We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister,” the MEA said in an official statement.
“Allegations of the Indian government’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated,” the release added. Trudeau triggered a diplomatic storm on Monday, saying there was “credible evidence” India was responsible for the alleged assassination of Nijjar.
Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab’s Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared “absconder” by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
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