Canada urged to reform student visa system after minister calls for focus shift from largest group Indians

Minister Marc Miller noted that universities and colleges have repeatedly relied on the same few countries for students and emphasized the need for a more diverse international student body.

"Universities and colleges need to put a little more effort into the price of acquisition and invest more in the talent that you're bringing here, and that includes going to more countries and expanding your resources," he said during a media briefing last week.

However, he acknowledged that Indian students remain a vital part of Canada’s education system, given the country’s large population and strong academic talent. He encouraged institutions to rebrand their outreach strategies to attract students from a wider range of countries, as reported by Immigration.ca, Canada's longest-standing online immigration platform.

While sector leaders support the goal of diversification, many argue that systemic barriers within the visa system itself limit institutions’ ability to achieve this.

Isaac Garcia-Sitton, executive director of international student enrollment at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), stated in an interview with The PIE News that discussions about diversification are ineffective unless the system that processes these students is first improved.

"Systemic barriers – like study permit refusals within days of submission, slow visa processing times (among the longest in the top 10 study destinations), and the unintended consequences of automated decision-making rejecting qualified students – make it difficult to turn this goal into a reality," he said.

Miller’s remarks on diversification came shortly after reports surfaced of Canadian authorities losing track of nearly 20,000 Indian students.

According to a Globe and Mail report in January, based on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data, nearly 50,000 international students failed to register at their designated institutions after arriving in Canada between March and April last year. These non-enrolled students accounted for 6.9% of the 717,539 international students being monitored at that time. Indian students made up the largest group, with 19,582 cases, followed by 4,279 Chinese students, 3,902 Nigerian students, and 2,712 Ghanaian students.

While some of these students are believed to be working low-paying jobs to sustain themselves, others have reportedly fallen victim to fraudulent educational institutions, Times of India reported.

Yet Garcia-Sitton argued that while Miller raised an important issue regarding the need for diversification, the way it is communicated is crucial.

He noted that the international education sector has suffered due to policy changes and negative rhetoric, which have harmed Canada’s global reputation, and that Miller’s recent remarks have only exacerbated the situation.

"Singling out Indian students, even unintentionally, risks creating a narrative that they are part of the problem – when in fact, they’ve been central to Canada’s international education success," he said.

In 2023, Indian students accounted for roughly 41% of Canada’s international student population, followed by students from China (10%) and the Philippines (5%).

Despite efforts to diversify, visa delays and high rejection rates remain significant obstacles, particularly for applicants from Africa and Southeast Asia, said Vinitha Gengatharan, assistant vice-president of global engagement at York University.

She argued that while diversification is important, the government must also provide adequate resources to support it.

She also called for stricter oversight of designated learning institutions (DLIs) to ensure compliance with genuine international student programs.

Since January 2024, constant policy changes by the IRCC have made long-term recruitment planning increasingly difficult, further complicating diversification efforts.

For 2024, Canada is projected to issue 437,000 study permits, a 10% decrease from the previous year.

ApplyBoard, the world’s largest online platform for international student recruitment, predicted last month that the number of international students arriving in Canada in 2024 could decline by 45% compared to 2023 due to stricter immigration policies.

The platform projected that IRCC is on track to approve only 280,000 study permits in 2024, marking the lowest number of approvals in a non-pandemic year since 2019.

Since late 2023, the government has implemented a series of stricter policies aimed at managing the impact of rising immigration numbers.

For instance, the financial proof requirement was raised to over CA$20,600 (US$14,000), doubling the longstanding CA$10,000 threshold. Additionally, master’s and PhD students must now submit study endorsements from their province, territory, or region when applying for a study permit.