New federal cap on foreign student permits raising concerns on P.E.I.

The federal government’s decision to cap how many international student permits are issued over the next two years — and the “aggressive” tone in which it was delivered Monday — has students and post-secondary institutions on P.E.I. wondering how it will affect them.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that in 2024, Ottawa will approve about 360,000 undergraduate study permits, which represents a 35 per cent reduction from 2023, in an effort to help ease the nationwide housing crisis.

“We’ve got two years to actually get the ship in order,” Miller said.

“It’s a bit of a mess and it’s time to rein it in.”

Provinces and territories will be left to decide how permits are distributed among universities and colleges in their jurisdictions. On P.E.I., that includes the University of Prince Edward Island, Holland College and the French-language Collège de l’Île.

At Charlottetown-based UPEI, almost all the growth in enrolment since 2017 has been as a result of the increasing proportion of international students. This year, 35 per cent of the undergraduate and graduate student body is made up of people from outside of Canada.

“[The] system…has become so lucrative that it has opened a path for its abuse. Enough is enough.”— Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller

It’s become a big source of money for the university — $18 million in student fees alone last year, accounting for 11 per cent of all university revenue, not counting the tuition fees international students also pay.

Nobody from the UPEI administration was made available for an interview about the changes on Monday.

At Holland College locations across the province, the international student body represents about 30 per cent of enrolment.

In a news release, Miller said the changes are necessary “to protect a system that has become so lucrative that it has opened a path for its abuse. Enough is enough.”

Holland College president reacts to limit on international students

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Holland College president Sandy MacDonald talks about the federal government announcing a two-year cap on international student permits.

Holland College president Sandy MacDonald said the tone of the release surprised him, though he is confident Miller was not referring to any institutions on P.E.I. when he spoke of “abuse.”

“It was quite aggressive and clearly the federal government’s unhappy,” MacDonald said.

“It seems to me that the federal government’s efforts are aimed at those institutions and those areas that are seemingly taking advantage of the situation — and I don’t think our province is doing that at all.”

It seems to me that the federal government’s efforts are aimed at those institutions and those areas that are seemingly taking advantage of the situation— and I don’t think our province is doing that at all.— Holland College president Sandy MacDonald

MacDonald said he’s optimistic P.E.I. will get a fair allocation of permits, but noted that any cuts would be felt. The international population has made a “significant impact” on the college’s culture, he said, but it also helps the bottom line.

Tuition fees make up about 22 per cent of Holland College’s overall revenues, and international students — who pay about twice the tuition that Canadian students shell out — make up about 36 per cent of that kind of revenue.

“We’d see an immediate impact on our bottom line,” MacDonald said. “And most importantly we might see an impact on the breadth and depth of programming that we can provide.”

Tuition cheaper here

George Jiang, a third-year history major at UPEI who represents international students on the school’s Senate, said many international students come to P.E.I. because tuition is cheaper than elsewhere in Canada. The province also provides a smoother pathway to permanent residency.

But he understands the rationale for capping international student permits, given Canada’s housing crisis and the rising cost of living.

“The locals on P.E.I. are also [finding] living hard so I think it’s understandable, because we need time to fix a problem, to increase our capacity to accommodate more international students.”

Miller himself said he wanted to be “absolutely clear” that the measures are not directed against individual international students.

“They are to ensure that as future students arrive in Canada, they receive the quality of education that they signed up for, and the hope that they were provided in their home countries.”

Province has no numbers yet

In an email to CBC News on Monday, a provincial spokesperson said P.E.I.’s allotment of international students under the new formula was not yet available.

The spokesperson added that the province would be working with post-secondary institutions to “better understand the Government of Canada’s changes, and to support the Island’s advanced learning community.”

MacDonald said he will be ready to have those discussions when the time comes.

“We are expecting the province to say to us, ‘Well, rationalize or justify why you have this many students,’ which we think we can easily do.”