‘It’s very unfair’: International students face uncertain future in Canada after rule change

Migrant groups are pushing the federal government to reverse its cap on international study permits and tightening post-graduate work permit qualifications, claiming it will leave many students “in limbo.”

They claim the cap unfairly targets a very specific demographic of Canada’s migrant population, while allowing for an easier pathway for other migrants, including working professionals, towards permanent residency.

Tasnimah Ahmed has been attending Ontario College of Art & Design University in Toronto under an international study permit for two years. However, with more stringent rules introduced for obtaining a post-graduate work permit, she fears she’ll be sent back to Bangladesh after she graduates.

“I feel like it’s very unfair, because a lot of us having been studying for three to four years and now to hear they’re putting a cap on the work permit, it doesn’t make sense when we’ve been putting our heart and soul into all of our studies,” Ahmed said.

Earlier this month, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller announced Canada would be reducing the number of international study permits issued by ten per cent in 2025, after already promising to reduce the amount by 35 per cent this year, and would implement stricter rules for students who want to stay in Canada under a post-graduate work permit.

“A lot of students are kind of left in limbo I don’t know what my future now holds,” said Mehnaz Lamia, the international student representative for the Canadian Federation of Students.

“Every day, you’re living with an expiry on your head because you don’t know what tomorrow holds, because at any moment the policies can change.”

Miller says the new rules are in response to Canada’s housing shortage and unaffordability, but migrant advocates say it’s left many international students with an uncertain future..

“The rules have changed in the middle of the game,” Sarom Rhom, an organizer with the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, told CTV News. “Time is working against these students leaving them in massive crisis.”

Rho and other migrant advocacy groups are pushing for the federal government to allow current students to apply for post-graduate work permits under the old rules.

“We’re calling on the federal government to minimally grandfather in all the students who are already in the country and have applied and committed to studying in Canada under existing rules.”

Student groups ‘feel targeted’

Part of the ongoing issue for international students is that they believe their demographic is being unfairly targeted, when large numbers of permanent residency applications are available for other migrant groups.

Canada has handed out tens of thousands of ‘Invitations to Apply’ (ITA) for permanent residency, including close to 6,000 in the month of September.

These ITAs can be a gateway for permanent residency for students, but can also be issued to working professionals already in Canada and other parts of the world.

But with a cap on permits only affecting international students, they don’t believe the path to permanent residency is a level playing field.

“I really hope we’re prioritized,” added Lamia. “We really hope there are more resources and support structures instead of having more policies that dismantle those supports and creates further barriers.”

Migrant advocates are pushing for fair treatment across the board for all migrant groups, not just putting policies in place that target students.

“We’re providing some benefits to certain people in our society with the express entry, which are more higher levels and higher skilled workers, and saying other components in our immigration system are no longer welcome. So, very much, it is a dividing rule,” said Chris Ramsaroop with Justice for Migrant Workers.

“The nuances in the dividing rule is that many other racialized communities are being attacked.”

In response, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) says “most of those ITAs are intended for students coming off of (post-graduate work permits) and in need of a pathway to permanent residency.” However, they wouldn’t specify how many of those would go to students and how many invitations would be issued to temporary foreign workers and other professionals.

“It would be unfair to blame students for the housing crisis, but it would be equally unfair to welcome an unlimited volume of international students without the proper supports – whether it’s housing, healthcare, or a proper education environment,” the IRCC said in a statement.