Immigration minister Marc Miller’s frank discussion with CBIE president Larissa Bezo drew the attention of over 1,300 delegates at the conference, who called for an end to the “blame game” and the vital need to rebuild brand Canada.
Acknowledging a tumultuous 2024 – kicking off with the IRCC’s implementation of study permit caps that were subsequently tightened alongside restrictions on PGWP eligibility – Miller professed that if the international education sector is the Titanic, he was “starting to feel like the iceberg”.
After repeated questioning from Bezo, Miller said that there would be no more “major” policy changes in the sector, but didn’t rule out future corrections. Last Friday’s announcement from the IRCC ending the SDS and the NSE – though not necessarily a negative development – casted some doubt on this commitment.
Here, we dive into The PIE News’s four key takeaways from the conference.
Broader policy repercussions are yet to be felt
At the end of 2023, Canada’s international education sector was worth nearly $50 billion, but since the implementation of study permit caps in January, institutions have seen international enrolments drop by 40-55% just this year, said Bezo, warning of the “staggering” financial impacts to come.
“The viability of our post-secondary education sector will hang in the balance as a result of much of what unfolds in the next year or two,” said Bezo, warning of layoffs at both colleges and universities, as well as the impact on Canadian students, families, and the “trickle-down” effects on communities and labour markets.
While Miller said that he “wasn’t insensitive to the economic impacts”, he made clear that his main priority was to ensure “the credibility of the immigration system”.
There was a prevailing sense among delegates that the IRCC had not fully understood the impact of the repeated policy changes, and the full extent of which had not yet been felt.
“I don’t think [Miller] really understands the impact this has across the country and the labour market, particularly in rural and remote areas, particularly in some of the sectors, and then the impact that is has on us as institutions,” said Saskatchewan Polytechnic president Larry Rosia.
“In the immediacy we’re going to see job losses, we’re going to see course closures and there will be some really tough decisions to be made without provincial government intervention, said Vinitha Gengatharan, assistant vice president, global engagement & partnerships at York University.
“We were in a very strong growth trajectory in the last ten years and some of those investments that were made are going to be really hard to walk back,” she added
Ontario colleges have been particularly hard hit, with Seneca College in Toronto temporarily closing one of its campuses, impacting over 5,000 international students.
We need to get our provinces talking to the federal government agencies
Vinitha Gengatharan, York University
This year, research universities welcomed a “long overdue” boost in funding announced in the federal budget in April, although panellists raised concerns that declining international student numbers would hinder institutions’ research capacity.
“International graduate students are double that of undergraduates at Western University,” said associate vice president, international, Lily Cho, adding that most STEM research students come from outside of Canada.
“The image of international students in the popular imagination does not reflect the crucial part that they contribute to the intellectual capital of this country,” said Cho.
Demand for greater coordination and collaboration
The need for greater collaboration between federal and provincial governments was on everyone’s lips at the conference, with the recent federal policy halving Provincial Nominee Program targets highlighting the particularly fraught relationship between Ottawa and the provinces.
According to IDP’s latest Canadian sector survey, 67% of respondents agreed that government intervention was necessary, but 69% disapproved of the regulation, citing the need for more targeted policies and the lack of stakeholder consultation by the IRCC.
“I would challenge [Miller] on how much he truly worked with the provinces… In British Columbia, we have a good relationship with our government, and I’m pretty sure our ministry would have talked to us if they were getting information,” said Rosia.
“I don’t think that enough consultation took place between the provinces and the federal initiative,” he added.
And yet, as Miller repeatedly reminded delegates, he is the minister of immigration. Under the Canadian constitution, provincial governments bear responsibility for education and there is no department of education at the federal level.
While there are wide disparities in provincial policies, provincial governments were not spared from blame, with Miller maintaining that the IRCC’s hand had been forced by a “collective dropping of the ball” by provinces and institutions.
“I think it’s great that Mark Miller is willing to come and sit with us because I can’t remember the last time our provincial minister of colleges and universities spent that much time with international education colleagues,” said Gengatharan of York University, Ontario, which has been the hardest hit by the changes.
“We need to get our provinces talking to the federal government agencies. We’ve not seen that, in Ontario in particular – the largest province with the most international students and bad practices – we need to take responsibility for the areas where we have failed.
“This is an opportunity to clean up our own house,” said Gengatharan.
Demand for greater coordination and collaboration
“We want the government to embrace a more comprehensive view of international education,” said Bezo, reminding delegates that while inbound mobility has dominated headlines in 2024, the next International Education Strategy must include a broader view of internationalisation.
Boosting outbound mobility, which has slowed in recent years, and exploring TNE options were highlighted as ways institutions can enhance internationalisation amid decreasing inbound mobility.
One session by French and Canadian government officials highlighted the linguistic affinity between the two countries and the opportunities for student exchanges presented by the France-Canada Youth Mobility Agreement as well as a recent strengthening of research ties since Canada joined Horizon Europe this year.
What will it take to rebuild ‘brand Canada’?
“The reality is that we’re not going to recover overnight. This is a five-to-seven-year proposition in terms of really looking to rebuild, but it’s premised on the stability of the policy environment,” said Bezzo, urging the minister for a period of calm for the sector to recalibrate.
While acknowledging the “bad behaviour on the part of a minority of actors that needed to be addressed”, Bezo criticised the blanket policy changes for being imprecise and an “overcorrection”, causing detrimental harm to Canada’s reputation.
Canadian institutions have seen international enrolments plummet this year, but many have not used up their total PAL allocations, revealing the detrimental impact the policy changes are having on international student demand.
According to IDP’s student perspective survey, Canada has fallen from first to fourth place among prospective international students for the past two years.
“When we talk about branding, the question is, were we branding an education or an implicit or explicit promise to become a Canadian citizen or permanent resident?” asked Miller.
When we talk about branding, the question is, were we branding an education or a promise to become a Canadian citizen or permanent resident?
Minister Marc Miller, IRCC
In agreement at least about reframing the narrative, CBIE has urged the government to project a more welcoming message on the international stage, warning that “our partners interpret the silence as us closing the door”.
And yet, conference delegates also heard of the vital need to communicate the value of Canadian international education on the domestic stage amid growing anti-newcomer narratives.
According to Miller, the IRCC’s restrictive immigration policies have been “wildly popular” among Canadians, though Bezo expressed the sector’s “deep concern” about the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in Canada that stakeholders say have “emboldened” the IRCC.
Educators expressed hope in CBIE’s new National Dialogue which calls for the establishment of a pan-Canadian international education council to collect data and drive a national campaign to reframe public narratives that blame international students for healthcare and housing shortages.
“We haven’t captured the public with our storytelling efforts,” said Gengatharan.
“With the constant announcements, people have really tuned out and it’s difficult to convey the impact on the domestic agenda. That is something that we need to get our businesses and industry talking about.”
