Canada’s immigration policy failures are unusual, with one in five study permit holders having no record of studying at college or university here.

Some private colleges, in fact, have even witnessed no-show rates of 90 percent, fueling intense political debates and weakening Canada’s reputation as an immigration and student hub.

However, Canada is not the only immigration-reliant country to have undergone peril related to immigration policies.

Australia, as per the Globe and Mail writer David McKinnon, could be used as a precedent for overcoming immigration-related woes.

Similar to Canada, the country underwent considerable obstacles between 2008 and 2010, owing to unmanaged growth in students coming from India.

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“I had a front-row seat to that crisis; I was managing Canada’s trade and investment program in India, which included education promotion, and my wife was working at the Australian mission in Delhi, looking after their political and economic program,” wrote McKinnon.

At the time, Canada had started emulating Australia for the major economic growth generated by international students. However, not all were glitters and stars for the country: policies to bring in international students became a gateway for those who did not want an education, but rather permanent residency.

The story was the same as it is in Canada now, with many Indian students having to work incredibly long hours to fund their education, putting them in a precarious situation.

McKinnon reflected on how attacks on Indian students were reported by Indian media as racism, sourcing trouble for Australia-India bilateral relations.

Canada, on the other hand, used data to minimize the number of problematic immigration applicants. The trade and immigration program at the Delhi High Commission of Canada aligned its promotion and visa-processing efforts to support established, public degree-granting institutions.

The approach was picked up by some other Canadian missions as a best practice for visa processing.

“This approach was noticed by Australian officials too, some of whom came to Delhi to assess the program and learn lessons from their debacle.”

“Indeed, I continued to hear about how Canada’s quality-driven approach had become a best practice for many in Canberra after I was posted there in late 2009.”

The Problems Facing Canada’s International Student System

Canada welcomed a record number of international students, at 800,000 in 2022. To sustain their studies here, they end up picking low-paying jobs that cannot be filled by Canadians, as per assistant professor in international student policy at the University of the Fraser Valley in B.C., Dale M. McCartney.

This often leaves them vulnerable, as per the past president of the Comparative and International Education Society of Canada, Melody Viczko.

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“When we only value international students for their contribution economically, we’re failing to see all the other ways … they contribute to the learning that happens in post-secondary education,” CBC reported Viczko saying.

Lessons for Canada’s Immigration Policy

McKinnon recommends the following changes Canada should implement to its immigration policy, based on the learnings from Australia:

1. Ottawa should recognize the negative, unintended consequences of their policies and change course based on that.

2. Canada has the expertise and experience necessary to address difficult problems. However, the government needs to listen to experts and have “honest, thoughtful and proactive leadership” both federally and provincially, in conjunction with strong public services.

3. The government needs to foster social cohesion and boost its international reputation to fix the low confidence the moment the country is currently witnessing.

4. Public universities and colleges should demand that the government implement prompt policy changes to avoid further reputational damage.

Moreover, McKinnon suggests that institutions reach out to their Australian counterparts on how they approach the situation and mobilize the government to take effective action.

Canada’s Recent Changes to the International Student Program

The housing and affordability crisis is another problem affecting Canada in 2024, which many blame on immigrants and international students. Responsively, the government announced a 364,000 cap on the number of international students coming to Canada – a 35 per cent decrease from 2023.