Student visas are not a cheap way to get entry into Canada

By Mata Press Service

International students spent around $37.3 billion on tuition, accommodation, and discretionary items and contributed $7.4 billion in tax revenue in 2022, according to recently released data from the Government of Canada.

Despite these significant contributions, Canada is reassessing the number of long-term visas granted to foreign students, reflecting the government's intention to moderate immigration and population growth.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that although Canada has for years used universities and colleges to bring in educated, working-age immigrants, study visas shouldn’t imply a guarantee of future residency or citizenship.

“That should never be the promise. People should be coming here to educate themselves and perhaps go home and bring those skills back to their country,” he said.

“That hasn’t always been the recent case.”

“Canada is now being seen as less welcoming as it has been before” for students, Miller said. But the update of that, he said, is that a study visa “is less and less being seen as a cheap way to attain permanent residency or entry into Canada, and more of a qualitative proposition — which is where we want to see it go back, to its original intent.”

His statements reflect a shift in Canada's approach to international education, as the government seeks to refine its immigration policies.

Miller suggested that the focus should be on attracting high-quality talent and providing a clearer understanding of what studying in Canada entails, rather than viewing it as an easy route to permanent residency

According to the new government report, the analysis clearly indicates that the contributions that international students make to Canada’s economy are continuing to grow.

In line with an increasing number of international students, overall spending more than doubled between 2016 and 2022, from $15.5 billion to $37.3 billion, representing an increase of 15.7% per year, the report stated.

However, starting in 2024, Canada has imposed a temporary two-year limit on the number of new study permits issued and will only issue 364,000 such permits for the year.

The government’s rationale for these changes is that the rising number of international students has put significant pressure on Canada’s infrastructure, including housing and healthcare.

There have also been concerns about the quality of education at some institutions, particularly private colleges. These changes aim to slow the growth rate of international student admissions, allowing for improvements in infrastructure and ensuring educational offerings remain high-quality.

"Over the past two decades, the number of study permit holders in Canada increased more than sixfold, with every province and territory recording positive gains," notes the report.

"Although Ontario attracted the greatest number of international students, it is worth noting that Prince Edward Island recorded the highest percentage increase in the number of study permit holders – from 2000 to 2022, the percentage increase has been over 1,800%."

Ontario hosted just over half of all international students in the country (51%) in 2022. British Columbia accounted for nearly a quarter (22%), and Quebec another 12%.

The analysis attributes roughly 97% of that economic impact to long-term students – that is, students enrolled in programmes of six months or more. The following table breaks that long-term-student spending down into per-student averages for various levels of study.

Not surprisingly, the report finds that India has been the big driver of international student growth: Detailed data indicates that of the top source countries for long-term students, the biggest increase was from India (+47%, with 319,130 study permit holders in 2022). Other top source countries for long-term international students that experienced strong increase between 2021 and 2022 include:

• Philippines (+112% to 32,455)
• Hong Kong (+73% to 13,100)
• Nigeria (+60% to 21,660)
• Colombia (+54% to 12,440)"

Here are some of the key highlights of the government’s recent study on international students;

• After accounting for Canadian scholarships and bursaries, the total annual expenditures of international students, including their visiting families and friends, contributed $37.3 billion to economic activities in Canada in 2022. This translates into a $30.9 billion contribution to Canada’s GDP in 2022, or 1.2% of Canada’s GDP.
• Students from India, in particular those studying at the college level, contributed most to the increase in the number of “long-term” students, with Ontario accounting for the biggest increase in the number of international students.
• Ontario, with the largest number of students, made the largest contribution to GDP with $16.9 billion (54.6% of 30.9 billion), followed by British Columbia, with 18.4% and Quebec, with 12.4%.
• An important metric in economic impact analysis is the number of jobs supported. International students’ overall annual spending in 2022 translates to 361,230 jobs (the equivalent of 246,310 FTEs) supported in the Canadian economy in 2022.
• International students’ annual spending directly and indirectly contributed $7.4 billion in tax revenue in 2022.
• Because international students’ expenditures represent revenue for goods and services from overseas, they are Canadian exports of education services.
• In 2022, the value of international education services, as measured by total spending by international students in Canada ($37.3 billion) amounted to 23.1% of Canada’s total service exports to the world,[1] and equaled 5.1% of Canada’s total merchandise exports.
• The top 10 source countries accounted for $26.4 billion in international student spending in 2022, which translates to 22.2% of the total service exports, or 4.0% of Canada’s total merchandise exports to these countries.
• In 2022, long-term international students accounted for 97.7% of the total spending by international students, they contributed $30.3 billion to Canada’s GDP and supported 353,850 jobs.