10-08-12
Citizenship and Immigration Canada in collaboration with provincial governments and the national association Languages Canada are suggesting that a limit be implemented on the amount of Canadian schools eligible to accept international students.
The initiative arises out of suspicion that foreign nationals are obtaining Canadian student visas to enter the country, but then not actually attending the classes they enrolled in. Unfortunately, there are no statistics to quantify or even confirm this alleged trend.
The proposed regulation would have each province submit a list of approved post-secondary institutions, and only these selected accredited institutions would be eligible to enrol foreign students. While the details of the selection process have yet to be revealed, many administrators of the private career colleges and vocational schools are worried about the harmful effects these regulations could yield. Estimates put forth by the CEO of the Private Career Training Institutions Agency (PCTIA) Karin Kirkpatrick Campbell, suggest that some schools are composed of 60% international students, with about 25% relying on international students to the extent that preventing international enrolment would significantly harm their business. PCTIA is the agency responsible for registering and accrediting private career colleges and vocational school in British Columbia.
Despite the substantial risk of financial losses, Campbell maintains that it is imperative to ensure that Canada student visa holders are in fact attending classes. If attendance is not somehow monitored, and foreign nationals with student visas are found not attending classes, it would make the schools they enrolled in appear less legitimate.
Canada student visa regulation therefore appears to be a win-win situation, however the key question of who will be responsible for monitoring the foreign students, has yet to be answered.
Interested in attending a Canadian academic institution? For more information on how to obtain a Canada study permit, please consult with our website and infographic at http://cinet.wpengine.com/canada-study-permit.html. FWCanada’s Pinterest account is also filled with a variety of Canadian and Canadian immigration content http://pinterest.com/fwcanada/.
