{"id":19077,"date":"2024-01-26T13:56:54","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T18:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/news\/?p=19077"},"modified":"2024-09-18T13:09:05","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T17:09:05","slug":"international-students-cap-falsely-blames-them-for-canadas-housing-and-health-care-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/news\/2024\/01\/26\/international-students-cap-falsely-blames-them-for-canadas-housing-and-health-care-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"International students cap falsely blames them for Canada\u2019s housing and health-care woes"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced a new cap on international students<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, IRCC aims to issue 360,000 study permits, a 35-per-cent reduction from 2023. This announcement comes on the heels of a doubling of the cost-of-living requirement, whereby international students coming to study in any province except Qu\u00e9bec have to demonstrate they have access to $20,635<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no doubt that predatory private colleges<\/a> and exploitative international student recruiters<\/a> have acted unethically, and steps must be taken to address their actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International students also deserve access to supports and services they need to thrive in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But dominant media narratives illustrated in headlines like \u201cCanada to cap international student permits amid housing crunch<\/a>\u201d are inaccurate and harmful. They also shift responsibility away from those truly responsible: Elected officials at all levels of the government and predatory private colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baseless blame<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Media coverage of the cap has also failed to consider the people at the heart of the issue \u2014 the international students themselves who, despite their significant economic ($22.3 billion) and social contributions to Canada<\/a>, are being blamed for many of Canada\u2019s biggest and long-standing challenges<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media has also reported on the cap\u2019s consequences for public post-secondary institutions<\/a> which, for years, have commodified international students, viewing them as an important revenue source in the face of shrinking provincial government grants<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These stories have focused on how this policy will have a dire impact on the financial sustainability<\/a> of universities, and how they might be forced to hike domestic\/Canadian students\u2019 tuition, which will adversely affect Canadians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ignores the impact on international students themselves, who have been exploited by provinces and universities for years and who are already struggling to make ends meet in Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some editorialists have argued the cap on visas and stricter work-permit rules will fix the exploitative post-secondary education \u201cindustry.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federal government has committed to creating a \u201crecognized institution\u201d framework<\/a> that will see institutions set higher standards for supports, services and outcomes for international students and fast-track study permits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, several provinces have committed to \u201ccracking down\u201d on predatory colleges<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are other ways to prevent the exploitation of international students, including supporting the transition to studying and living in Canada<\/a> and creating inclusive learning environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who\u2019s responsible for the housing crisis?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The government\u2019s official news release, along with the media coverage<\/a> of the announcement, continues to scapegoat international students<\/a> for some of Canada\u2019s biggest challenges, stating that rapid increases in the number of international students arriving in Canada put \u201cpressure on housing, health care and other services.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is neither accurate nor fair. It\u2019s overly simplistic, untrue and xenophobic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada\u2019s housing availability and affordability crisis has been decades long in the making. Experts believe<\/a> the housing bubble was caused by a confluence of factors including municipal, provincial\/territorial and federal government policies<\/a>, municipal zoning laws, developers\u2019 interests and central bank policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immigration Minister Marc Miller himself has said immigrants are key to solving the housing crisis<\/a> because they bring skilled labour into the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By overly focusing on demand for housing \u2014 and scapegoating immigrants and international students \u2014 the government is drawing attention away from immediate actions it could take to increase supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The majority of international students cannot afford to compete with Canadians for homes or for rentals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

York University Prof. Tania Das Gupta\u2019s research<\/a> on Punjabi international students has found many students can only afford to spend a few hundred dollars a month on rent, forcing them to live in overcrowded and illegal basements<\/a>, to share beds, to live in their cars<\/a> or to face homelessness<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These students aren\u2019t the primary driver of rising home prices or rental costs in Canada, and some economists<\/a> doubt the cap will have any impact on rental prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who\u2019s responsible for health-care crisis?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

International students are also being blamed for health-care challenges, despite Canada\u2019s health-care system being significantly strained since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a> \u2014 a time when there was a massive decrease of international students coming to Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, most Canadians believe our provincial\/territorial health-care systems have been in decline for more than a decade due to structural issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The College of Family Physicians of Canada has been sounding alarm bells for years about Canada\u2019s need for more family physicians More than six million Canadians don\u2019t have a family doctor<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its recent policy proposal package<\/a>, the organization states the most pressing needs for family doctors today include higher remuneration and reduced administrative burdens. International students \u2014 or immigrants, more broadly \u2014 aren\u2019t named anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That the federal government is blaming international students for \u201cputting pressure\u201d on the health-care system is both a misrepresentation and an abdication of responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Replicating power, privilege<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The cap, as well as the new financial requirements for international students, represent the federal government\u2019s attempt to solve some of the pressing challenges in an ecosystem they helped create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Lisa Brunner, an immigration scholar at the University of British Columbia, argues, there are complex ethical issues<\/a> involved in the ties that bind migration and education. International students will be shut out of Canada due to these new policies, which will ultimately replicate power and privilege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This pattern of scapegoating in government rhetoric and in media coverage is deeply troubling. It\u2019s already affecting public attitudes toward immigration levels<\/a>, and may spill over to create negative attitudes and behaviour toward immigrants and international students themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understandably, international students are concerned<\/a> and speaking out against the unfair blame being placed on them<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the responsibility of all levels of government to fix the issues they\u2019ve helped create. This requires taking swift steps to effectively crack down on predatory colleges and unethical recruiters<\/a>, and significantly increase government grants to public universities and colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government must also invest in health care and create affordable housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International students have not created these problems, and the government and media must stop blaming them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-written by Yvonne Su<\/a>, assistant professor in the Department of Equity Studies, York University and Leah Hamilton,<\/span><\/a> professor of Organizational Behaviour, Faculty of Business & Communication Studies, Mount Royal University.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from<\/em> The Conversation Canada<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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