B.C. caps international post-secondary student enrolment at 30 per cent of total | CBC News

British Columbia’s government has introduced new guidelines for public post-secondary education institutions, capping the number of international students at 30 per cent of their total enrolment.

In a statement, the provincial Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills says the new limit is meant to make sure that “international student enrolment doesn’t strain an institution’s ability to provide appropriate services.” 

The ministry says the new guidelines call for public universities and colleges to submit international education strategic plans to the government, which the province will monitor to make sure the cap is being followed.

Schools such as the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, the University of Northern B.C. and University of Victoria say international student enrolment levels there do not exceed the 30-per-cent limit and the change will not impact operations.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University exceeded the limit set for 2023-24 at 36 per cent, but officials say the school year started before the federal government capped international students at 360,000 this year — a 35 per cent decrease from 2023.

The university’s vice-president Zena Mitchell says in a statement that the B.C. government guidelines aligned with their expectations. 

The province says the guidelines start this month, and schools are expected to come into alignment over the coming year.

It says the cap is also meant “to help ensure that enrolment levels do not put pressure on local communities.”

The change come after the federal government recently announced it will cap the number of international student permits over the next two years. Ottawa says the measure is to stabilize the number of international students, who often arrive without “the proper supports they need to succeed.”

WATCH | International student fees make up large portion of post-secondary budgets in B.C.: 

How much do universities and colleges depend on international student fees?

B.C. is banning new post-secondary institutions from enrolling international students for two years in order to crack down on what it says are “exploitative practices.” But Camosun College Society executive director Michel Turcotte tells BC Today host Michelle Eliot that many institutions have come to rely on the tuition fees from international students, having been encouraged by past governments to enrol them.

After Ottawa announced a two-year cap on student permits, the British Columbia government said it would be banning new post-secondary institutions from applying to enrol international students for the next two years.

Of the 175,000 international post-secondary students from more than 150 countries in B.C., about 54 per cent are enrolled in private institutions, the province says.