The report and action plan call for a new chapter in Canada’s international education sector after 2024 saw the federal government implement study permit caps in January, which were recently tightened and followed by further restrictions on PGWP eligibility and permanent residency.
“With the changes this year, I think we’ve lost sight of that longer-term picture and that’s one of the pieces that we hope to help refocus on through the recommendations in the National Dialogue Report,” CBIE president & CEO Larissa Bezo told The PIE News.
“Let’s not lose sight of the tremendous value of the [international education] sector for Canada and let’s home in on what we need to do to make sure that it’s viable and thriving for the future.”
The report reflects the key outcomes of the National Dialogue on International Students, which brought together over 225 participants in May 2024 for the first multi-stakeholder event since the federal government’s introduction of international student caps.
It outlines a broad range of thematic recommendations for community integration, labour market integration, mental health and accommodation needs of international students in Canada, alongside an eight-point action plan for the sector.
The most pressing recommendation, according to Bezo, is the creation of a dedicated pan-Canadian international education council to continue to convene key stakeholders and advance key issues with federal and provincial governments to position the sector for the long term.
“We just saw the World Economic Forum put out a report recently about the strategic role of middle powers to try and navigate what’s happening globally. And Canada is one of those middle powers.
“Our ability to advance our global role hinges on our ability to nurture people to people ties, and there’s no better way to facilitate that than through the bridges that our education connections build,” said Bezo.
Another key priority identified in the report is the need for a coherent national effort to rebuild Canada’s global brand, which has been “damaged substantively” by the policy changes of the last 11 months.
“We need a concerted effort to make clear to prospective students, their families and others who are considering Canada that we take those relationships very seriously and that we want to win back the trust of those students for them to see Canada as a viable, stable choice for international education,” said Bezo.
“Historically and consistently, Canada has been very supportive of newcomers … [but] when we see those narratives emerge, we tend to move into a more political realm, and we see much more politicised decisions rather than smart policy making,” she added.
The report highlights the need to counter the “anti-newcomer narratives” that have emerged since the pandemic amid rising economic uncertainty, labour market challenges and tense global geopolitics, according to Bezo.
Such rhetoric was seen last week when Ontario’s Premier Ford announced plans to bar international medical students from the province next year, based on the claim that they were “taking” 18% of seats, when the actual figure is 0.26%.
We want to win back the trust of students for them to see Canada as a viable, stable choice for international education
Larissa Bezo, CBIE
The federal government’s dramatic halving of Provincial Nominee Program targets as part of the 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan points to the fraught relationship between Ottawa and the provinces, which is a key barrier to sector cohesion.
“Federal, provincial and territorial dynamics are particularly fraught at the moment,” said Bezo, adding that “the Canada brand is only as strong as this relationship”.
However, a small display of cooperation came from the IRCC this week, adding nursing degrees to the list of PGWP eligible courses, which was a priority for many provinces where there is a lack of early childhood educators.
Another priority of the report is to shape the next International Education Strategy which has not been renewed since the previous one – co-owned by the ESDC, IRCC and Global Affairs department – expired in spring 2024.
CBIE is calling for the new strategy to have an expanded focus on international education that includes increasing outbound student mobility, reciprocal research partnerships and transnational education, to facilitate Canada’s global engagement despite the decrease in inbound mobility.
As the national body for international education, CBIE will be at the forefront of implementing the action plan and is committed to continue to convening national dialogues.
However, “given the complexity within our system, CBIE alone is not going to – nor should we do – all of the heavy lifting,” said Bezo, adding that a shared effort would be required of government and other stakeholders.
The National Dialogue represents yet another effort from the sector to reflect and strategise for the future, “so we can set our sector on a positive footing in terms of advancing our commitment around an ethical approach to international education in Canada,” said Bezo.
