BELLEVILLE; International students at Loyalist College have mixed views about the federal government’s decision to cut the number of study permits granted to internationals students by 35% over the next two years.
On Jan. 22, federal Immigration minister Marc Miller, minister of Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced the changes.
The changes set a cap on the study permit applications and stabilize the new growth for 2 years. This cap is predicted to provide about 360,000 study permits in 2024 which is a decrease of 35% from last year. The cap will not apply to those who want to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees. Those who currently hold study permits won’t be impacted.
The post-graduation work permit eligibility criteria are also changed. It will start from September 1, 2024. Students who are studying in private colleges that are associated with public colleges will not get post-graduation work permits.
Uzair Shahid is an international student advisor at Loyalist College. He says there while there will be no direct impact on current students, there are changes that will affect them.
He says that “those who are studying here with their spouses can’t bring their spouses them on work permits.”
Shahid says there will also be an impact on the number of international students coming to the Loyalist College.
Because Ontario brings in more foreign students, the number will be cut by 50% for the next two years in this province.
“I have both positive and negative effects on the students as who are studying here will face no problem but those who want to come here and study in Canada, it would be hard for them,” said Rohit Kadya, a student in the college’s social service worker program.
Hardik Patel, works as a work integrated learning coordinator in the Career Center at the College .
He says the changes will have an impact on some of the college’s programs where 90 to 95 per cent of the students are foreign students.
He also says there will be an impact on spouses of foreign students who aren’t currently in Canada.
One of the apparent reasons for the changes being made by the federal government is a shortage of accommodation in many communities. Patel argues, “housing problem is not due to the international students”
But Hardik Arora, a student in the business finance and analysis program thinks the changes will bring some good news for current international students.
“The new rules are good for the international students who are currently studying because there is a lot of population coming which creates many problems such as housing” he said.
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