Immigration policy is largely a federal issue, but BC political parties have taken stances on international student immigration as the provincial election grows near.
In late January, the federal government announced an intake cap on study permit applications to decrease pressures on housing, the healthcare system and other services, and to better protect international students from “bad actors.”
Canadian post-secondary institutions have been accused of charging international students high fees while providing them with a poor education, according to Vancouver Sun reporting.
In September, the government announced further restrictions on the number of new study permits. It also announced the 2025/26 study permit intake cap will include graduate students (a demographic which the cap had previously excluded) with 12 per cent of allocation spaces being reserved for them.
The Ubyssey summed up each party’s platform to help UBC community members make an informed vote.
BC Conservative Party
John Rustad, the BC Conservative Party leader, said the federal government’s move to reduce temporary residents in Canada was “way too little, way too late.” He also said British Columbians “can’t trust” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and that provinces should have the power to set immigration targets, something the NDP also included in its platform.
“When we hear a leader saying something like, ‘It’s too little, too late,’ it indicates that they perhaps have themselves shifted in their support for an open approach to international students,” said Dr. Stewart Prest, a UBC political science professor in an interview with The Ubyssey. “If Mr. Rustad were to be elected, we would look for him to perhaps take a more hard-line approach on the issue, perhaps drastically drawing back on the number of international students.”
Prest also said this could lead to quite disruptive policies and BC would have to wait to see “whether that rhetoric turns into something more definitive.”
Immigration programming, said Prest, is typically a federal issue that is becoming more locally relevant.
“It’s worth paying attention to what the provincial leaders are saying on this issue and how they’re going to approach it,” he said.
As of press time, the BC Conservatives’s 2024 platform did not contain explicit mention of international students.
BC Green Party
In an October 2023 news release, BC Greens’ leader Sonia Furstenau said “escalating costs of living, inflation, and soaring tuition fees” are “pushing students to the brink,” with international students being the most affected.
Furstenau previously urged the BC NDP government to create a non-repayable food security grant program to assist international students in financial distress.
“We’ve heard stories of students resorting to raiding dumpsters, being turned away at food banks for being an international student,” she said. “There are students who haven’t eaten in days, sitting in class trying to learn.”
Furstenau also advocated for the removal of the “gatekeeping and protectionist mentality” which she said hinders internationally-trained professionals from working in their fields in BC. She argued international students should not be seen merely as a lucrative source of revenue for post-secondary institutions.
“The consensus that immigration [is a real value to Canada] is good for the country [and] we want to continue to find ways to support it,” said Furstenau. “And so I think it’s important that parties find ways to continue to work within that consensus, rather than challenging it.”
As of press time, the BC Greens’s 2024 platform did not contain explicit mention of international students.
BC NDP
In January, the BC NDP government announced a two-year pause on new international student applications at newly established post-secondary institutions to “eliminate exploitive practices and improve the quality of post-secondary education,” according to Global News.
It also established new restrictions to the Provincial Nominee Program (permanent residency) this May.
Prest said this move was possibly a result of a consensus among the electorate that international students put pressure on matters like housing supply.
“It’s difficult to assess just how much things like temporary foreign workers and international students matter because of constraints on housing supply,” said Prest. “I think that the two-year pause is in part to try to address that perception, and I think it’s also to give the government a chance to take a harder look at what actually is happening.”
The NDP government also introduced a new Education Quality Assurance code which necessitates institutions elevate standards for supporting and protecting international students. Some of the guidelines include limiting international enrolment to 30 per cent of an institution’s total enrolment and providing tuition fee transparency to prevent unexpected international student fee increases. UBC’s international enrolment on the Vancouver campus for 2023/24 was around 28 per cent.
The NDP asked the federal government to change its cap on international students to allow more students into high-demand fields such as transport work, nursing and early childhood education.
“We can’t have this cap impacting our healthcare system or the availability of child care, or the ability to build the homes that we need,” said BC NDP leader and Premier David Eby to reporters in January.
Eby also said a “federally-dictated cap” on international students could have “profound and negative impacts.” The BC NDP’s 2024 platform mentions reallocating immigration targets to provincial governments regarding international students.
However, the NDP shares the federal government’s goal of reducing the overall numbers of international students, according to Vancouver Sun reporting.
This article is part of The Ubyssey's 2024 provincial elections coverage.
Share this article
First online
