Our association represents 140 institutions across the country. In Manitoba, I believe there are about 10 institutions, including the Red River College Polytechnic, the Assiniboine Community College, the Université de Saint-Boniface with its École technique et professionnelle, and other organizations in the province.
The very real housing crisis is affecting domestic and international students.
I think what you're referring is that international students might hesitate to come to our country, given this crisis. Yes, I think it's starting to have an impact. Obviously, students take various factors into account before deciding where to go to study.
In Canada, we have a high-quality education system with good supports; we provide students with employment opportunities during and after their studies. It's really attractive. However, we must also be able to welcome them. We have always done so, and we continue to do so, but there is now more pressure, since many more national and international students are having trouble finding affordable housing. That is why we are asking for an investment of $2.6 million, which would create some 40,000 affordable housing units for students across the country.
Under the national housing strategy, we are currently talking about 160,000 affordable housing units. We're not saying that this is the perfect solution to the problem, but I think targeted investment in students would be a wise choice.