By Mata Press Service

The Trudeau Liberal government's drastic cuts to international student admissions and sweeping overhauls to Canada’s immigration system are delivering a devastating blow to colleges, universities, and local economies nationwide.
Education experts and community leaders caution that the new policies will limit access to educational programs for Canadian students, worsen labor shortages across multiple regions, and severely damage Canada’s reputation as a welcoming nation for immigrants.
In early 2024, Immigration Minister Marc Miller introduced significant reforms to Canada's International Student Program, aiming to stabilize its rapid growth and better align it with the country's labor market needs.
These measures include capping the number of study permits issued and revising eligibility criteria for the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) program. The government plans to reduce the number of new international study permits issued to approximately 360,000 for 2024, down from over 500,000 in 2023.
By the end of 2025, nearly five million temporary permits are expected to expire in Canada, highlighting the growing pressure on the country’s immigration system.
Among these expiring permits, 766,000 belong to international students—a significant demographic heavily reliant on temporary visas to pursue their education and post-graduate opportunities in Canada.
Statistics from the immigration department revealed that over one million international students are currently residing in Canada. On average, international students pay nearly five times more in tuition fees than their domestic counterparts, contributing $30.3 billion to Canada's GDP and supporting 353,850 jobs, according to government data.
The economic ripple effect of the policy changes extends far beyond campuses. Mayor Darcy Dober of Dawson Creek, British Columbia, home to Northern Lights College, has condemned the federal changes, saying international students contribute $289 million to the local economy and support one in every 15 local jobs.
Dober also noted that nearly 59 percent of international students stay in the region after graduation, playing a crucial role in the workforce.
Numerous businesses, particularly in the restaurant and retail sectors, have raised concerns that imposing a cap on foreign students will exacerbate labor shortages. Restaurants across Canada are already struggling with nearly 100,000 job vacancies, and in 2023, international students accounted for 4.6 percent of the 1.1 million workers in the food service industry.
Additionally, Canadian banks have greatly benefited from the influx of international students. Each student is required to maintain a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) of over C$20,000, ensuring they can cover their living expenses—a mandatory prerequisite for their stay. This policy has provided a steady stream of deposits, further boosting financial institutions.
Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) criticized the reforms, stating that they prevent Canada from leveraging public colleges and institutes to respond to labor market needs in real time and address the economic challenges of their communities. "Ottawa has chosen to implement a counterproductive and one-size-fits-all policy to meet the country’s labor market needs… This creates a fundamental disconnect between the pressing needs of local labor markets and the essential contributions of skilled international graduates," said CICan.
The Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC (FPSE) highlighted the abrupt and arbitrary nature of the federal policy shift, stating that it has caused a funding and budgetary crisis at colleges and universities.
The FPSE is calling on the provincial government to address the issue, noting that "faculty associations across the province are being summoned to meetings and briefed on job losses and program cuts."
“Our institutions have seen more than a 50 percent drop in international student enrollment, so this has been a dramatic overnight cut in an important source of enrollment and revenue for colleges,” said Michael Conlon, executive director of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators.
Among those affected is Victoria-based Camosun College, which announced that layoffs are imminent as it grapples with a $5 million budget shortfall caused by the federal government's restrictions on international students.
In Ontario, public colleges are projected to face a decline of at least $1.7 billion in revenue due to the new restrictions. Major players like Mohawk College and Algonquin College are anticipating deficits of $30–50 million, which will likely result in layoffs.
In Alberta, the University of Calgary estimates an $11 million revenue loss this year due to a shrinking international student population.
Against this backdrop, a growing number of international students are turning to Canada’s asylum system. According to Immigration Minister Miller, licensed immigration consultants are advising students to file asylum claims despite slim chances of success.
Data from IRCC showed that 2,290 Indian students accounted for 14 percent of the 14,000 asylum claims filed between January and September 2024. Nigerians ranked second with 1,990 asylum claims, followed by Ghana (1,385), Guinea (1,095), the Democratic Republic of Congo (950), Rwanda (775), Iran (630), and Bangladesh (445).
Canada’s asylum system had a backlog of nearly 250,000 refugee claims awaiting decisions as of September 2024, with the average processing time for each claim at approximately four years.
Minister Miller stated at a recent parliamentary committee hearing that the increasing number of international students filing asylum claims is alarming.
  "There are an increasing number of international students making asylum claims, I think with very little hope, given their conditions," he said.
Miller is now exploring measures to reform Canada’s refugee system, potentially fast-tracking the refusal of cases with little chance of success.
"People having increasingly fewer hopes to stay in Canada are being counselled to file, I think unjustly, asylum claims where they shouldn't have the ability to do so," Miller added.