IRCC, Deputy Minister, Transition Binder, 2024 - Temporary Immigration

International Students

The increase in the number of international students coming to Canada has had a positive impact on our economy, campuses and communities, but it does bring to light concerns around program integrity, student vulnerabilities, and downstream impacts on Canadian society, particularly with regards to impacts on housing.

To address these challenges, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is working on a modernized International Student Program (ISP) around four main pillars:

• A “Recognized Institutions Framework” to benefit post-secondary schools that set a higher standard for recruitment, student supports (including housing), and post-graduate outcomes for international students;
• Ways to improve program integrity and reduce student vulnerability;
• Improving equitable access to the ISP including in Francophone Minority Communities;
• Compatible work pathways that align with broader labour market objectives.

IRCC has engaged closely with provincial and territorial (PT) ministries responsible for immigration and education on those changes. [Redacted]. IRCC also engages closely with key stakeholders, such as national organizations representing the education sector.

In addition to these measures that are well underway, IRCC implemented a cap on the number of international students on January 22, 2024. The cap will serve to better support international students and create greater predictability for communities to welcome international students.

Time-limited cap

• IRCC set an intake cap on most international student permit applications to stabilize new growth for a period of two years. To achieve this target, the national cap will be set on study permit applications at approximately 600,000, resulting in about 360,000 study permits approved in 2024, a 35% reduction from 2023, at current approval rates.
• In the spirit of fairness, individual provincial and territorial caps have been established, weighted by population, which will result in much more significant decreases in provinces where the international student population has seen the most unsustainable growth.
• Provincial allocations have not yet been determined. It is expected that the Minister will be engaging his provincial and territorial counterparts in the week following the announcement to socialize some preliminary numbers (based on IRCC advice) and to hear how they plan to implement the attestation letter process.
• Provinces and territories are expected to establish a process for issuing attestation letters to students by no later than March 31, 2024.
• [Redacted]. IRCC is regularly engaging with PTs at the Assistant Deputy Minister and Director-level.
• Similarly, national education associations are also keen to obtain more information on allocations, exemptions and the impact of the cap on previously announced ISP reform measures (i.e. the RIF). Further discussions with national associations and their members are being scheduled for the coming weeks.

Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) Program

• The PGWP program is a significant pull factor for international students to study in Canada, and this has been a contributing factor to exponential growth in the international student program.
• PGWP holders make up 26% of the International Mobility Program which provides labour-market exempt open-work permits.
• Two new measures were implemented on January 22, 2024, along with the cap on international students:
  • Starting September 1, 2024, international students who begin a study program that is part of a curriculum licensing arrangement will no longer be eligible for a PGWP upon graduation.
    • Under curriculum licensing agreements, students physically attend a private college that has been licensed to deliver the curriculum of an associated public college.
  • Graduates of master’s degree programs will soon be eligible for a three-year PGWP even though the length of their study program may have been less than two years. To date, the length of a PGWP has generally been based on the length of the program from which the international student has graduated, up to a maximum of three years.
• Work is also underway to re-align the program to better meet targeted labour market needs and immigration objectives.

Off-Campus Work Hours

• Options are underway to review the 20-hour maximum number of hours international students can work off-campus each week. Temporary measures waiving this 20-hour maximum have been extended until April 30, 2024.

Spouses of International Students

• In the weeks ahead, open work permits will only be available to spouses of international students in master’s and doctoral programs. The spouses of international students in other levels of study, including undergraduate and college programs, will no longer be eligible.

Temporary Foreign Workers

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Innovation Stream of the International Mobility Program

• On November 6, 2023, the Minister concurred with the development of an Innovation Stream under the IMP to provide employer-specific work permits, exempt from an LMIA, to foreign nationals with a job offer from a company selected under Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s Global Hypergrowth Project. This comprises one pillar of the Tech Talent Strategy, announced by the former Minister in June 2023.
• A memorandum for approval is currently with the Minister, seeking concurrence on two outstanding eligibility criteria mentioned in the memorandum: (1) skill level (TEER) restriction and (2) wage threshold. Once a decision is received, the Department intends to inform provinces and territories of the Stream and its details before proceeding with a public announcement of the Streamt.

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• IRCC is undergoing a review of the IMP streams as part of the broader review of the temporary worker pathways. Immediate and long term measures are being developed as part of the suite of proposals to manage intake volumes of temporary foreign workers in Canada, including potential program changes in the medium term. The Department is also developing an approach for consulting stakeholders on the options being developed.

NextStar/Stellantis Electric Vehicle Battery Plant (Windsor, Ontario)

• It is expected that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry and Technology will hold an extended study on this matter in February 2024. The issue is that Stellantis received several billion dollars in public subsidies (Ontario and federal), while relying to some degree on a foreign workforce to set-up the NextStar plant. Domestic stakeholders, however, argue that much of this need could be met by local labour supply. A number of ministers, including Minister Miller, will be expected to speak to their involvement.
• As background, in November 2023, it was reported that a large number of Korean workers were supporting the set-up of the Stellantis/NextStar battery plant, some of whom used the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement’s (CKFTA) labour mobility provisions to support entry and to receive work permits. It was revealed at the time that a couple dozen work permits were processed for highly-skilled workers under the CKFTA, with several more via other TFWP/IMP streams. [Redacted].