Thank you for your question.
Yes, the challenges of study permit processing and concerns about disproportionate success rates were certainly highlighted in the House of Commons report last year, as were the particular challenges for students applying from the Francophonie, with the therefore particular negative impacts on universities in Quebec. I think that is important to recognize.
Some of those same challenges exist in other jurisdictions, and I would suggest also here in Nova Scotia. It's not only because our universities recruit heavily from the Francophonie.... I'm speaking of colleagues at, for example, Université Sainte-Anne and Université de Moncton. Those challenges are here in our region as well.
We appreciate very much the importance of the House of Commons reporting on that and also the steadfast response of the then minister that these issues need to be addressed. I believe 32 or 34 recommendations were accepted. I would suggest that it is the responsibility of the federal government going forward to continue to address those. That includes the need for more resources and study permit processing. We are seeing some of that. It also includes the importance of working with institutions across Canada, in what is being described at the moment as a “trusted partner” or “trusted institution” model, to ensure that all those parameters are in place to support international students globally.
Again, to your earlier point, this is something that affects all our universities and is part of ensuring greater competitiveness of our universities across Canada, including Quebec and francophone universities.