OLLO – Refusal of International Students from Africa – November 4, 2024

Question Period Note
Date: October 31, 2024
Classification:
Department: IRCC

Issue:

Concerns regarding the refusal rate for international students from Africa.

Proposed Response:

• The Government of Canada recognizes the tremendous social, cultural and economic benefits that international students bring to this country.
• Study permit applications from all over the world are examined uniformly and according to the same criteria, regardless of the country of origin. Visa applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis according to the specific facts presented by applicants.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is committed to facilitating the mobility of eligible student applicants from Africa and has put in place various initiatives to improve programs and application outcomes.
• So far in 2024, we have seen a decrease in study permit approval rates globally, aligned with the integrity measures and caps introduced with the aim of strengthening the integrity and effectiveness of the International Student Program.
• More time is needed to observe and analyze how trends in intake and approval rates are affected. IRCC continues to closely monitor these impacts.

If pressed:

• Initiatives implemented in recent years have had a positive impact, as demonstrated by an increase in approval rates for applicants residing in Africa from 30% in 2021 to 35% in 2023.
• Volumes of study permit applications from African residents have significantly grown in recent years. The application intake is at 160,798 as of September 30, 2024.
• IRCC has taken steps to address study permit refusal rates and is exploring new measures that would increase equitable access to the International Student Program for certain underrepresented client groups. The recently announced Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot was launched on August 26, 2024. There are 28 African countries included in the program's eligibility list (out of 33 countries total).
• IRCC is committed to ensuring that each application is treated fairly and without discrimination.
• To this end, the Department has:
  • Expanded its training curriculum to include further unconscious bias, cultural and anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion training and will continue to do so;
  • Maintained quality assurance measures to achieve consistency in decision making on these applications;
  • Continued to work with partners to attract eligible, admissible applicants from Africa by regularly participating in and hosting in-person and virtual events to explain application processes and requirements;
  • Worked with local authorities in Africa and partners to protect applicants against unauthorized consultants, irregular migration, human smuggling and fraud;
  • Leveraged the integrated network to ensure the timely and efficient processing of all African caseloads.

Contact:
Elizabeth Snow
Director General, International Platform Branch
Tel. No.:
Cell. No.:

Approved By:
Jennifer MacIntyre
Assistant Deputy Minister, International Affairs and Crisis Response
Tel. No.:

Additional Messaging

• For students seeking to attend an institution in Quebec, the applicant must first receive an acceptance certificate (Certificat d’acceptation du Québec) from the province of Quebec.
• Since December 2023, IRCC has implemented several new measures aimed at strengthening the integrity and effectiveness of the International Student Program. This has included mandatory verification of letters of acceptance, an increase to the amount of funds required by applicants and an overall cap on the number of study permits to be issued, managed through the introduction of a requirement for a provincial attestation letter.
• The decline in approval rates for applicants residing in Africa as of September 2024 (23%) has begun to reflect the impact of these changes. More time is needed to observe and analyze how trends in intake and approval rates are affected. IRCC continues to closely monitor these impacts.
• The Government of Canada is committed to a fair and non-discriminatory application of immigration procedures. IRCC has committed to significantly advance efforts in support of anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion.
• IRCC has undertaken a series of anti-racism initiatives that support the fair and non-discriminatory application of all immigration procedures, including:
  • Delivering mandatory unconscious bias training for all employees;
  • Supporting the review of all policies and programs to identify systemic racism, barriers and the disparate impacts on racialized groups; and,
  • Implementing mitigation plans to reduce racial disparities across programs and procedures based on system review, data mapping, external sources, identifying and addressing bias in decision-making and risk management, including automation practices.
• IRCC is currently refining and developing options on pilots to remove systemic barriers, address refusal rates, and promote equitable access to the International Student Program.

Background

• Study permit applicants must first be accepted to a Canadian designated learning institution before applying to IRCC for a study permit. Students must also obtain an Attestation letter from the province or territory in which they will study, unless exempt from the requirement. Officers then assess applications to determine if applicants are bona fide (genuine) students and that they are admissible to Canada on health, criminality, security and financial grounds. Applicants seeking to attend a learning institution in Quebec also need a Certificat d’acceptation du Québec from the province of Quebec.
• IRCC continues to work with international partners, designated learning institutions and the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants to combat the exploitation of vulnerable students by unscrupulous agents and bad actors.
• The onus is on applicants to establish that they meet the requirements of the Act and Regulations, including that they have the resources to support themselves while in Canada and that they would depart Canada at the end of their authorized stay pursuant to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (section R216(1)(b)). They are given the opportunity to present their cases by providing documentary evidence and any other relevant information to support their applications.
• Screening of applicants against objective markers ensure that students have both sufficient funds to support their studies in Canada, and the ability to successfully engage in their education. Applicants who may want to study and then apply for permanent residence can be positively considered as long as they demonstrate that they have the capacity to support themselves and that they will actively engage in studies in Canada
• Over the last five years, the number of study permits issued to African students has increased from 18,955 in 2019 to 39,354 as of September 30, 2024 – an increase of 108%.
• IRCC increased its footprint on the continent with the opening of IRCC Addis Ababa in 2021 and IRCC Yaoundé in 2022. Overall, 79 new positions have been created on the African continent since April 2018, of which 30 were created in 2022, and 12 in 2023.
• IRCC engages in outreach with future students, in cooperation with both Global Affairs Canada and other partners, at public events and on social media. IRCC offices located in Africa participate in events such as EduCanada and EduQuebec. These outreach efforts allow IRCC to explain visa requirements and how to apply, in order to ensure applicants are provided with the correct information and help steer candidates away from unscrupulous consultants.
• Furthermore, IRCC is expanding the Destination Canada Mobility Forum to Sub-Saharan Africa. An edition of the annual event will take place February 18-20, 2025 in Douala, Cameroon.
• IRCC offices in Africa are making targeted promotional efforts to improve the quality of the applications received and thus increase approval rates. In collaboration with the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne, the Department is promoting studies at Francophone colleges and universities outside Quebec in the Maghreb, West and East Africa. Furthermore, IRCC offices in Africa have increased their efforts to raise awareness among prospective applicants about fraud and risks of using unauthorized consultants.
• IRCC is taking all reasonable steps to ensure that systemic racism and discrimination do not impact officer decision-making. Applications are assessed against the program requirements contained in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and its Regulations. Each applicant receives an individualized assessment based on all of the information available on file. Officers are trained to consider all factors in their decision making, and respect the principle of procedural fairness. IRCC is committed to creating a culture of equity and recognizes the need to continually evaluate our performance in this regard and take corrective action where required on both individual and systemic issues. Officers receive training on unconscious bias and anti-racism to ensure decisions are fair and reasonable. IRCC maintains quality assurance measures to achieve consistency in decision making on these applications. Additionally, the Department continues to analyze data, refine criteria, and design mechanisms to improve decision-making and ensure that genuine, admissible students are able to study in Canada. The Department also monitors compliance rates where the designated learning institutions report back on whether international students are attending school as planned.
• In line with the annual global commitment to conducting quality assurance, IRCC’s missions in Africa have completed a number of exercises to examine its study permit caseload. These exercises have revealed that intake growth is fueled, in part, by unscrupulous consultants, leading to a greater number of poor quality and fraudulent submissions, contributing to 2024 refusal rates. This is in line with IRCC’s recalibrated approach to post-approval adverse outcomes, including work on a temporary resident migration integrity framework and strategy. We continue to monitor the rising asylum claim rate for approved study permit holders, which rose to 7.96% in 2023.

Source: Document Overview: OPP-DART-2023-21480 SP Africa Report - as of Sept 30, 2024 - DPU APPROVED (ci.gc.ca)

Notes:

Data is operational, subject to change and may not match official IRCC reporting.

Current year (2024) data may under-represent asylum claims, as there is often a delay between SP approval and any subsequent asylum claim.

The data in this table has been approved by the Data Protocol Unit (DPU) for external release.

Values are rounded to the closest multiple of 5 to prevent individuals from being identified when IRCC data is compiled and compared to other publicly available statistics. As a result of rounding, data may not sum to the totals indicated.

Source - Document Overview: OPP-DART-2024-27807 QPN Update request - African Asylum Claims by Official Language - SP to Claim.xlsx