On January 26th 2024, the Provincial government released their response to the new federal policies impacting and capping international students: Ontario Taking Action to Improve Integrity of Postsecondary Education and Promote Employment in Critical Sectors.
In our own response to the Federal policies, CSA “strongly [called] on all levels of government to work cooperatively to find integrated solutions to these multifaceted challenges that are informed by the student perspective”.
We would have liked to see the province consider solutions that put the students first, and address the problem at the root: sector financial unsustainability. Although the province says they are still considering the recommendations made by the Blue Ribbon Panel, we want to take this opportunity to emphasize that many of these recommendations are paramount to the success of the sector: primarily, an increase in provincial funding to post-secondary institutions so they do not have to rely on international student tuition, thus eliminating predatory recruitment and academic practices.
We will continue to monitor this issue as it develops and continue our advocacy at the provincial level.
The Provinces New Measures:
Review program quality of PSI’s with large proportions of international students to protect program quality and reputation.
Ensure programs offered meet labour market needs.
Introduce a moratorium (temporary suspension) of new public college-private partnerships to improve oversight and quality.
Create measures to improve the Student Outcome Survey responses.
Require all colleges and universities to guarantee housing for all incoming international students.
Strengthen oversight of career colleges.
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out to Policy and Advocacy Lead, Delaney Groves, at research@collegestudentalliance.ca
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