Only 360,000 new visas for undergraduate students issued this year
“Related to rising housing costs due to rapid increase in immigration”
Canada plans to reduce visa issuance to foreign students this year by 35% compared to last year.
According to the BBC on the 22nd (local time), Canadian Immigration Minister Mark Miller said, “We will receive up to 364,000 undergraduate student visas this year,” and added, “To ensure the quality of education, we will introduce a cap on the number of student visas issued for two years.” and announced.
360,000 is a 35% decrease from the number of student visas issued last year, and the upper limit is limited to undergraduate students. This does not apply to renewing an existing student visa. Student visas for graduate students and middle and high school students are also excluded.
The BBC analyzed that these measures were “aimed at solving soaring house prices.” Currently, the average house price in Canada is 750,000 Canadian dollars (about 743 million won), and over the past two years, house rents in Canada have risen about 22%.
Rising housing costs are also related to the surge in immigration. The population is growing rapidly, but the current housing supply is not able to keep up.
In this situation, the number of foreign students is increasing, putting a burden on the Canadian government. As of 2022, more than 800,000 foreign students are residing in Canada. This is a 273% increase from 214,000 in 2012, 10 years ago.
In 2022, Canada’s population increased by more than 1 million people in one year for the first time in history. Last year, Canada’s population exceeded 40 million.
Some are raising concerns about regulations on international students. McMaster University President David Farrar criticized in an interview with CBC, “Losing international students will result in economic losses for the university.”
President Farah said, “The tuition paid by international students helps offset the tuition costs of some Canadian students,” and argued, “If we place a cap on the number of international students, we will also have to reduce the number of Canadian students.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.