Immigration Minister Holds Press Conference on Changes
International students organized protests in Mississauga against
unjust deportations in June 2023.
During a press conference on December 7, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that "it would be a mistake to blame international students for the housing crisis, but it [would] also be a mistake to invite them to come to Canada with no support, including how to put a roof over their heads." This was presented as justification for the increase in the cost-of-living requirement for new study permit applicants from $10,000 to $20,635.
"That's why we expect learning institutions to only accept a number of [international] students that they're able to provide for -- able to house, or assist in finding off-campus housing." No mention of going after the landlords who gouge students by charging exorbitant rents and even demanding a full semester's rent up front.
The Ministry of Immigration announced that ahead of the September 2024 semester, "we are prepared to take necessary measures, including limiting visas, to ensure that designated learning institutions provide adequate and sufficient student supports as part of the academic experience."
The Immigration Minister said there will need to be more
conversations with provinces before any visa caps are
introduced.
"Enough is enough. If provinces and territories cannot do this,
we will do it for them, and they will not like the bluntness of
the instruments that we use," he said.
"We could potentially miss the mark," he said, adding that
"[p]rovinces have a number of tools at their disposal -- namely
the regulation of the designated learning institutions, that in
some cases just need actually to be shut down."
Minister
Miller says the government is also reviewing how many hours students
should be allowed to work, saying that capping it at 20 hours a week
would be "on the draconian end of the spectrum" but allowing 40 working
hours per week would give people reason to come to Canada and not focus
on their studies. The Minister really takes the cake since it was long
since established that a full time student should not work more than
ten hours a week max if they hope to keep up with their studies.
"Our data shows us that 80 per cent of international students
work more than 20 hours per week," Miller informed.
With
the same nasty air of innocence, the Minister denied that international
students are already reduced to poverty which is why they work more
than twenty hours a week to sustain the lowest paid jobs in many cases.
Allowing them to now work more than twenty hours a week is a nasty
piece of work on the minister's part.
Clearly, he only wants
international students from relatively wealthy backgrounds to study in
Canada because those with modest means have to borrow or sell their
land and possessions just to pay current visa fees. Once these are
doubled, the situation facing international students and their parents
will become very much worse.
The lengths Canada goes to to justify superexploiting international students is despicable.
This article was published in
Volume 53 Number 32 - December 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/Articles/MS53327.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca