@anonuser1234 partly because they’re an easy target to try and appease the mases and because there’s quite a bit of abuse in the system that’s gotten a lot of press lately. Still it’s an easy way for the government to show that they’re taking mass concerns about housing affordability and the strain on government services and infrastructure seriously without having to really change their immigration policy. It’s a bit of smoke and mirrors to be honest. Having said that recent figures put international student numbers at 1 million. That’s really high for a country the size of Canada and it is leading to exploitation and bad actors primarily in the college sector but not exclusively so. It’s starting to erode the quality and reputation of our post-secondary education sector so from that perspective it does need to be addressed. There were reports that up to 20% of admitted students to some of these third-party colleges were not actually attending class and no-one really knows where they are (though the guess is working illegally). There were also problems with foreign admissions consultancy companies in countries like India that were issuing false admissions documents or forging credentials in order to get student visas or exploit naïve students. The problem is that while a more targeted approach to deal with these bad actors would be preferable, education is a provincial responsibility so the only ability the federal government has to affect changes is through the granting of student visas. The rest is up to the provinces to rectify and so far they’ve not been giving any signals that they’re inclined to do so. This may force their hand.
As to housing, the high number of international students in some communities is having a further detrimental impact on already short supply. Most colleges and universities only have sufficient on-campus residence space to house first year students. After that the majority of students have to find off campus housing putting even greater strain on availability and rent prices.
It’s a boondoggle to be honest. The Feds made this sweeping announcement and it was not previously coordinated with the provinces (though to be fair the provinces have so far not signalled any willingness to address the problem). How this is going to play out at the provincial level is anyone’s guess. The provinces that will be mostly affected are Ontario, BC, and Nova Scotia as they have the greatest number of international students. Mostly though it’s an Ontario problem as 50% of international students are enrolled here. The premiers have so far been mum on all of this. There was a further announcement today that there should be some additional provisions to protect French language institutions, both those inside and outside of Quebec, from being too severely impacted. Beyond that what’s going to happen is anyone’s guess.
New response from the government of Ontario. They will be requiring the colleges and universities to provide all international students guaranteed first year housing.
The PSE institutions are going to be scrambling to able to get all these new requirements including the one for letters of attestation ready by September. The colleges that were poised for spring admissions in May (which are predominantly international students) most likely won’t be able to. Universities have far lower intake outside of the traditional Fall start in September so will have more time to adapt.
Still no word on how they plan to make up for the lower funding the schools will have as a result of lower international student enrolment.
I don’t know the exact answer to the question on “how will Ontario universities be able to fund the shortfall as a result of capping Int’l students” but what I do know is that the shortfall will be “funded” eventually – as to whether a) the burden shifts to local students (eg higher tuition for Ontario students residing in Ontario), b) Unis “beg” for more $ from whereever - govt, alumns, etc, or c) well, they will close certain schools within the unis due to “costs>revenues”.
But I echo what has been mentioned here, I used to live downtown as a single individual – rent used to be affordable (I lived near U of T area). I was actually “Booted” out as the landlord stated that her daughter is going to school in U of T or whatnot - I lived in a condo then. Not really griping about it as I was really moving to the burbs eventually as I started my family – I can’t imagine the shortages these days within the U of T area esp since the area’s been rapidly developing (more taller condo towers offset by more investor/immigrants), etc
Do I have a solution? No. Is it real? Yes… is this the best solution? I don’t know LOL