IRCC

New steps to strengthen the integrity of the province’s program for overseas students were recently released by British Columbia’s Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills. According to a Ministry announcement, the province’s recognized learning institutions will now have more safeguards and requirements. The Education Quality Assurance (EQA) code of practice is one of these safeguards. Under the EQA, there are three main goals. First and foremost, the goal of British Columbia’s Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) is to “limit international student enrolment to 30% of an institution’s total enrolment.” Discover your options to study in Canada Only the public DLIs in the province will be subject to this limit. There is no effect on private DLIs. Many of British Columbia’s 25 public post-secondary educational institutions already have enrollment rates below that of international students, according to a Ministry representative who sent an email to CIC News. The Ministry did not respond to a question about whether the 30% cap on international student enrollment was in addition to the province’s current cap on foreign enrollment, which is determined by the number of Provincial Attestation Letters (PALs) that British Columbia will issue this year. However, the Ministry did state that the distribution of attestation letters was predicated on promoting and supporting international student programs at public DLIs. The Ministry’s personnel will collaborate with the institutions to give them enough time to modify their student recruitment strategies in order to reach the goal and handle any associated financial consequences, they added. According to the Ministry, educational institutions will discuss their threshold-meeting methods by referring to their international education strategic plans, which are specified in the new rules. A total of 83,000 PALs were allotted to British Columbia for 2024. These letters attest to a student’s acceptance to a DLI within a specific jurisdiction. Following the announcement of a cap on the number of study permits the department will handle over the next two years, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) established a new stage in the application process for a study visa in Canada. The number of PALs a province is allocated is based on population. British Columbia is Canada’s third most populated province after Ontario and Quebec. How provinces then distribute letters among DLIs is up to provincial governments. In B.C., 53% of PALs will be issued to public post-secondary institutions in 2024 and 47% will go to private institutions. Fees that are transparent for international students According to B.C., DLIs in the region will likewise be required to display the cost of tuition for each student for the duration of their studies. This will assist new students prepare their budget for living in Canada by enabling them to know how much their complete education will cost before they start. The Canadian economy benefits greatly from the presence of overseas students. Global Affairs Canada revealed in a recent research that the amount spent on overseas students in 2022 exceeded $37 billion. Additionally, according to Statistics Canada, the average tuition paid by overseas undergraduate students in the 2023–2024 academic year was $38,081. Presently, 111,900 foreign students are enrolled in public universities in British Columbia. Meeting standards As part of the EQA, the province will also require that institutions “meet or exceed the institutional quality assurance standards set by the province and is required for all public and private institutions enrolling international students.” These standards include the “development of international education strategic plans, improved student services, housing supports, and standards to ensure Indigenous and domestic students are not displaced.” Meeting these standards builds on the International Framework Measures the province introduced last January. These measures included pausing the growth of the number of DLIs in the province, increasing oversight of private institutions and strengthening and publishing compliance and enforcement actions. The province considers the new measures as Phase 2. DLIs that follow the code will receive an EQA designation. Those that do not meet the EQA code of practice will lose their EQA designation, making them unable to accept international students. Discover your options to study in Canada