CIMM – International Student Compliance Regime – February 28, 2024

Key Facts and Figures

• In 2014, IRCC implemented an international student compliance regime as an integrity tool to identify potentially non-genuine students and to gather additional data and trends on international students in Canada.
• Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) participate in twice-yearly compliance reporting exercises where they are required to report to IRCC on the enrollment status of their international students.
• In the Spring of 2023, 661 out of 709 DLIs (93%) answered IRCC’s request to report on the enrolment status of 558,197 international students. The data shows that 91% (509,164) of the international students were reported on as potentially compliant, while 33,266 (6%) were reported on as potentially non-compliant and 15,767 (3%) were not reported on at all.

Key Messages

• IRCC has different measures to enforce program integrity and is continuously seeking to improve the integrity of it programs through new initiatives.
• The international student compliance regime is designed to uncover potential fraud, fraud trends, international student movement, non bona fide students and questionable institutions.
• Data collected from these reporting exercises is critical to monitoring the success of the international student program, and gives IRCC insight into whether or not international students are compliant with their study permit conditions to actively pursue their studies.
• Several recent or upcoming initiatives will supplement the current compliance regime:
  • IRCC implemented on December 1, 2023 an enhanced letter of acceptance verification process that will have all letters of acceptance validated by DLIs .
  • On January 1, 2024, IRCC raised the cost-of-living requirement to align with the low-income cut-off (LICO) rates to ensure that students coming to Canada have enough money to support themselves. A student who arrives without adequate funds is more vulnerable to being exploited by an employer and/or might feel forced to accept a poor housing situation.
  • On January 22, 2024, IRCC introduced an intake cap on most study permit applications to curb the rapid and unsustainable growth that we have seen in recent years and has put pressure on housing, health care and other services.
  • IRCC is looking to adopt a recognized institution framework to benefit post-secondary DLIs that set a higher standard for services, support and outcomes for international students. These DLIs will benefit, for example, from the priority processing of study permits for applicants who plan to attend their institution.
• These measures are part of broader program reform to ensure genuine students receive the support they require and have the resources they need for an enriching study experience in Canada, while at the same time improving program integrity and stabilizing the overall number of students arriving and alleviating pressures on housing, health care and other services in Canada.

Supplementary Information

• Non-compliant students:
  • When individuals are identified by a DLI as potentially non-compliant, the information is added to the individual’s file and may be taken into consideration on any subsequent immigration application decisions. The individuals can also be referred to the Canada Border Services Agency for enforcement action following an investigation by IRCC.
• Unscrupulous/bad actors:
  • IRCC is very concerned about unscrupulous actors and unethical recruiters who seek to take advantage of students to gain large commission fees, or to involve international students in illegal human movement for criminal gains.
  • IRCC is committed to working closely with provinces and territories to disrupt these networks and protect vulnerable individuals from exploitation.
  • When it comes to fraud, we are primarily focused on identifying organizers of coordinated fraud and individuals who knowingly commit fraud or attempt to deceive IRCC, not penalizing genuine clients impacted by fraud.
• International Student Compliance Regime
  • The designation and de-designation of post-secondary schools to host international students is carried out by the provinces and territories (PTs). IRCC does not oversee DLI programming and recruitment practices and, under the current framework, does not have the authority to de-designate DLIs engaged in fraudulent activities.
    • IRCC currently has no mechanism to take action against DLIs who do not submit their report. After reporting is completed, IRCC currently works with PTs so that DLIs who did not submit their report to IRCC are known to them.