M-98 International students

That:

(a) the House recognize that,

(i) since 2000, the number of international students in Canada has grown more than 6.5-fold, to over 807,000 in 2022, and this number is expected to continue to climb to more than 900,000 in 2023,

(ii) international students contribute significantly to the Canadian economy, more than $22.3 billion annually, greater than our annual national exports for auto parts, lumber or aircraft,

(iii) international students are a critical boost to the workforce and provide talent needed to strengthen our economy and counteract our aging demographic, and are also a major source of short- and long-term labour in Canada,

(iv) international students attending colleges and universities pay, on average, three to five times more in tuition fees than domestic students, and tuition increases for international students in Canada have been as large as 20% annually,

(v) post-secondary institutions in Canada have relied on, to an increasing extent, the recruitment and enrolment of international students as a source of revenue to sustain their operating budgets, with revenues from international student tuition increasing 471% since 2007-2008 compared to only 23% for tuition from domestic students over that same period,

(vi) international students have increasingly been enticed to Canada with unrealistic promises of easy pathways to securing jobs and immigration status that leaves them vulnerable to exploitation by unregulated education agents, aggregators and other actors in the education and immigration systems,

(vii) this has created an environment whereby education policy is increasingly being conflated with immigration policy by some public and private post-secondary institutions, education agents and other actors in the education and immigration systems,

(viii) many international students face significant financial difficulties once they arrive in Canada, including higher than expected costs for food and necessities, greater difficulty finding a safe and affordable place to live, and greater difficulty finding a job,

(ix) many international students are arriving in Canada with misaligned expectations about the cost of living and housing availability and affordability and, as a result, are not being set up for success in attending post-secondary institutions in Canada,

(x) Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has not updated its estimated cost of living figures used to assess applicants for a study permit or Student Direct Stream (SDS) visa since 2015 and these estimates are currently nearly half of what a student typically spends per month to attend school in Canada’s largest cities,

(xi) despite participating in its drafting as a member of the Roundtable on the Integrity of International Education, Canada has not signed onto the 2012 Statement of Principles for the Ethical Recruitment of International Students (the London Statement) that establishes a unified set of principles and outlines a joint international code of ethical conduct for education agents and the recruitment of international students,

(xii) other countries have established national codes of ethical practice for education agents based on the London Statement, setting out a regulatory framework for student representatives, private and public institutions, student recruiters and education consultants,

(xiii) while exponential increases in the number of international students in Canada have contributed to the current national housing crisis and these students are often blamed for the many current economic and social challenges facing Canada, these students are also the victims of limited and often unsuitable housing,

(xiv) Canadian post-secondary institutions and provincial and territorial governments have stated that any cap on international students being permitted to study in Canada would not help to solve these crises,

(xv) government at all levels and both public and private colleges and universities must do more to ensure that international students coming to Canada are better set up for success once they arrive here, including ensuring their expectations for cost of living and housing are aligned with current economic realities; and

(b) in the opinion of the House, the government should,

(i) double the current proof of financial support eligibility criteria to $20,000 for the visa applicant, plus an additional $8,000 for the first accompanying family member and an additional $6,000 for each additional accompanying family member, to obtain a study permit (excluding Quebec) or a SDS visa,

(ii) review and update the estimated cost of living figures used to assess applications for a study permit or SDS visa at least every three years to reflect current financial realities,

(iii) require study permit and SDS visa holders to periodically report to IRCC, after they arrive in Canada and as a condition of maintaining their permit or visa, continued proof of sufficient financial support by demonstrating a minimum amount of funds held at a Canadian financial institution,

(iv) re-establish a limit in the number of allowable off-campus work hours for study permit or SDS visa holders to a maximum of 20 hours per week to ensure international students remain primarily focused on their studies while also having the ability to financially support themselves while in Canada,

(v) provide international students issued a study permit or SDS visa with a detailed information package that outlines their legal rights in Canada, including guidance on how to find housing, their housing rights under applicable provincial or territorial law, employment rights, and what to do if they have been a victim of a crime or inappropriate behaviour,

(vi) sign and publicly endorse the London Statement, and incorporate it into Canada’s policies and practices for education agents and the recruitment of international students by establishing a national regulatory framework and code of ethical practice to ensure a uniform ethical standard of service and care is provided to international students coming to Canada by education agents, post-secondary institutions and other actors,

(vii) Conduct periodic assessments of all designated learning institutions (DLIs) approved to host international students, and restrict their ability to do so by having IRCC limit visas issued to them, when 15 per cent or more of their international students either do not enroll in courses, withdraw from studies, or transfer out after arriving in Canada, as has been instituted by other signatories to the London Statement,

(viii) call on colleges and universities (both public and private), in collaboration with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Statistics Canada regarding off-campus housing, to provide prospective international students with a detailed information package as part of their offer of acceptance that outlines availability and costs of on-campus accommodations and off-campus housing, including detailing total number of rental units, rental vacancy rates, average rents, number of rental units under construction, and number of rental units projected to be completed in the next year,

(ix) call on all colleges and universities (both public and private) to dedicate and redirect annually a consistent proportion of their annual revenues from international student tuition to increased supports for and availability of on-campus housing and employment for international students,

(x) create a dedicated infrastructure funding stream under the National Housing Strategy to supplement investments by colleges and universities in building housing options for domestic and international students and expand the use of CMHC’s rental construction financing initiative to include post-secondary institutions, incentivizing them to build more affordable housing options for domestic and international students.