Immigration experts are calling on the government to crack down on the abuse of study permits for international students, including those gaining admission to Canada but who do not attend college or university once they get here.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is also being urged to target people applying from abroad to attend private colleges that report high levels of “no shows.”
An analysis by Statistics Canada in November found that around 19 per cent of international students with study permits did not have a record of studying at college or university here.
The Statscan report looked at international students who were not enrolled in publicly funded postsecondary education programs, which include Canada’s top universities. It compared various data sources, including tax records, to determine if those students were studying elsewhere in Canada.
Many study-permit holders were found through their tax records to be studying, likely in private colleges. But the report found no evidence that around 19 per cent of study permit holders from 2019 had enrolled in Canadian colleges or universities.
Henry Lotin, a former federal public servant and expert in immigration statistics, said in an e-mail that the Statscan report was “groundbreaking.”
“Clearly, for the integrity of, and public confidence in, the student visa program, student visa holders not actually enrolled in school should not be allowed in Canada,” said Mr. Lotin, founder of consulting firm Integrative Trade and Economics, in an e-mail.
“How many student visa holders are in Canada only to work? We do not know yet. Policy makers and stakeholders need better and more timely data on this gap, including enrolment in private colleges and universities.”
International student numbers have increased rapidly from 637,855 in 2019 to 807,260 in 2022. Each spring and fall, colleges and universities outside Quebec, in order to comply as Designated Learning Institutions, have to report to IRCC on the enrolment status of their international students.
The International Student Compliance Regime, implemented in 2014, is designed to help identify bogus students and help provinces identify questionable schools.