Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 10th, 2022

[Yan Cimon, Deputy Vice Rector of External and International Affairs and Health, Director of International Affairs and La Francophonie, Université Laval]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Members of the committee, dear colleagues and interested parties, thank you for giving Université Laval the opportunity to contribute to your work on the recruitment and acceptance rates of international students, including francophones from African countries.

It must be said that Université Laval is a resolutely international university that is committed to supporting its community, the leaders of tomorrow, in carrying out projects and to affirming its commitment to meeting the major challenges of our society. In that sense, Université Laval is the first French‑language university in the Americas, and it has been in existence for more than 350 years. We are resolutely forward‑looking and have been actively developing our international sector for several decades now.

The International Affairs and La Francophonie Department is mandated to increase international recruitment, develop and strengthen strategic international partnerships, and integrate cohorts of scholarship students and partner institutions. As such, we attract international students from 132 countries, who represent 15% of our student population. Two‑thirds of our international students come directly from French‑speaking places. These students represent the majority of students in some programs and are an important part of the high‑level talent needed to keep us on the cutting edge of research in the world. Laval's international graduates are literally changing the world through their leadership in their communities.

I will give you an overview of the situation. Our university recruits a majority of francophone international students. Our main recruitment pools are France and sub‑Saharan Africa, both of which account for one‑third of international students. Moreover, 11% of francophone international students come from North Africa. In total, 42% of our international students come from the African continent, and since the fall of 2012, the African contingent on campus has more than doubled.

However, we have some challenges that remain significant. Despite the importance of the African continent for francophone universities, it's clear that we have to deal with major problems. The first paradox is that Africa represents the future of the francophone sector, but Africans have great difficulty coming to study in Canada and may be tempted to go elsewhere. For example, in the case of Africa, enrolment growth is less than admissions growth. At Université Laval, only 32% of African applicants who were admitted following a very rigorous process accepted their offer of admission, for reasons related to the study permit, of course.

For French students, the percentage is 70%. That means that a typical African student who has a file allowing them to be admitted to a Canadian university and who wants to come to Canada will not be able to enrol with us. Because Canada is known for the quality of its universities, we do attract the best talent from around the world. In this context, we need to give them the tools they need to develop and thrive. Many international students from French‑speaking places, especially those from Africa, don't have access to the same opportunities to help them develop their full potential as students from English‑speaking places.

I will now address the second challenge. The francophone and anglophone sectors do not have the same recruitment pools, so there is a significant imbalance between the two sectors. For example, in Quebec, in francophone universities, 29% of international students come from Africa. That percentage is 33% for my institution—when we look at all the international students enrolled—but it's only 8% for anglophone universities. For their part, English-language universities have 50% of their students from Asia, while Asia generates only 10% of international students for the francophone sector.

The third challenge is that it is very difficult for Africans to obtain a study permit. Only a third of African students who are admitted to our university are able to complete their enrolment because of problems related to various and important reasons for refusal. The IRCC data show us, for example, that financial factors and factors related to the actual purpose of the study project are important. For our university, that represents 1,000 students a year. So it's a net loss, not just for Canadian universities and the education sector in Canada, but also for research, because we don't have enough talent. We're at a bit of a disadvantage there. For our Quebec City region, the economic impact of international students is $150 million a year.

The solutions we are proposing include revising the criteria for selecting students; improving the transparency of processes; reducing processing times; increasing access to quality services; improving access to biometric data collection centres; allowing more flexibility on the evidence used for financial criteria; developing a distinctive brand such as the Canadian Bureau for International Education initiative; and, most importantly, stop wasting talent and damaging Canada's reputation in Africa.

Canada must help the world and Africa by providing access to quality university education that changes lives and transforms societies.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Mr. Cimon.

We will now proceed to our third witness, Mr. Malette, associate vice-president, international, representing the University of Ottawa.

Please proceed. You will have five minutes for your opening remarks.

[Alain-Sébastien Malette, Associate Vice-President, International , University of Ottawa]

Madam Chair, we begin by paying tribute to the Algonquin people, the traditional guardians of the land where the University of Ottawa buildings are located. We recognize their long‑standing sacred connection to this unceded territory.

Madam Chair and members of the committee, I'm very pleased to be here today on behalf of the University of Ottawa to discuss an issue that is crucial, not only for Canadian post‑secondary institutions, but also for the communities they serve across Canada.

My remarks today will be in French and English and will focus on four areas: a view of the global student mobility landscape, a discussion on the vital importance of Africa, the University of Ottawa view and considerations for the future.

As to the global landscape for international student mobility, there is no doubt that Canada has been a tremendous success story these past years. The numbers are clear to this effect, and we wish to thank the Government of Canada for important policy decisions that contributed to this, like, for example, poststudy work rights and implementation of the student direct stream, or SDS.

Previous testimony given to this committee has also rightly referred to international student mobility as being the gold rush of this era. We cannot stress the importance of this enough. A 2019 study by Choudaha estimated that the global economic impact of international students in 2016 was roughly $300 billion U.S. It is therefore not surprising to see all the competition from countries and their higher education institutions.

Previous testimony to the committee has also alluded to the competition from many of the main destination countries that we all know: the U.K., France, the U.S. and Australia. However, the competition is also coming from non-traditional destinations, namely China, Russia, Malaysia and India. These countries also have their global ambitions, with national and international education strategies and targets. There are many contributing factors to this: financial, geopolitical positioning and soft power, research, rankings, national immigration policies and building a skilled workforce.

With respect to Africa, the data on international mobility are clear for Canadian institutions, and they demonstrate the critical importance of China and India. However, there are profound changes taking place in these regions that could affect the future mobility of international students in Canada. Therefore, Africa is a continent of growing importance. The demographics are clear on that. More than half of the world's projected population growth by 2050 will be in Africa, and the impact on the Francophonie will also be profound. According to an article by the BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation, entitled “Why the future of French is African”, published in April 2019, the proportion of francophones in the world living in sub‑Saharan Africa could increase from 44% to 85% by 2050. That's the reality. We understand the significant competition that countries and their institutions have.

As to the University of Ottawa, in the fall of 2021, we had close to 10,000 international students. We are tremendously proud of these students, who contribute to our vibrant university community, enhance our research efforts, pedagogy and financial viability, and help preserve our unique bilingual character. A significant proportion of these students, roughly 40%, are from Africa, especially French Africa, and from various regions within French Africa, northern Africa, western Africa and central Africa. We are very proud of this and of the contributions that these students are making to ensure the sustainability of the Franco-Ontarian community that we serve. However, this has not come without significant challenges, heartache and frustrations, especially with regard to the study permit process.

Previous testimony, which we strongly support, has put into context the difficulties facing international students from certain regions, including the different regions of Africa. These include a much higher refusal rate than in other feeder markets, often lengthy processing times and subjective and inconsistent reasons for refusals, such as the dual intent test, for example.

The University of Ottawa wholeheartedly supports the work of this committee. We are committed to working with stakeholders, including IRCC and others, to identify solutions that will allow Canada to remain a premier study destination on the global stage. This will benefit all Canadian communities. There is a raft of measures that could be taken to improve this, including, to name a few, reviewing subjective assessment criteria such as dual intent to ensure that it is aligned with our immigration policy for highly qualified personnel, implementing a guaranteed turnaround time for processing applications and expanding the SDS program to more countries and to important hubs such as Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon, to name a few.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Mr. Malette.

With that, the opening remarks come to an end, and we will now proceed to our round of questioning.

For today, the round of questioning will start with Mr. Seeback. You will have six minutes. Please proceed.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My first question is for Mr. Bussières.

In your testimony today, you said that the system needs to be reformed. I'd love to hear your thoughts on what reforms that you think.... We've heard a lot of ideas from others in this committee. I'd welcome your suggestions as well on the reforms you'd like to see.

[Luc Bussières]

Thank you for your question.

I would like to come back to some of the words used. There has been a lot of talk about opaqueness, lack of transparency and confusing criteria. In this future reform, we need more transparency. Everyone has to know the criteria, which must be really listed, explained and defined. The documentation must also be as clear as possible. All of that is understood here, but since it's being received in another culture, in another context, we have to ask ourselves whether sufficient efforts have been made in this respect.

I'll give you an example. In the documentation that students provide, they may include a letter of motivation, in addition to the completed form. In it, they may say things that could harm their own file, because what they have to say is not clearly stated. It's not a question of language or of being lost in translation.

In terms of intent, do they have to say what they want to do after their studies? Do they have to say there's a chance they’ll stay? Does that put them at a disadvantage?

People are trained to help them, they are regulated immigration advisors, and they themselves no longer know what to say about this dual intent test. Do you have to talk about your intentions in a letter of motivation that should help clarify the issue a little?

As far as consistency is concerned, we need to untangle what we're talking about. Others have talked about this. There seems to be a contradiction between the facts and Canada's stated desire to be a welcoming country, an immigrant country and all that.

Currently, we receive international students. About a third of them come to Canada for a second university degree. The others are at the undergraduate level. They spend three, four or five years with us. They are then integrated, trained, and ready to work, and they would be asked to leave to perhaps come back later. This issue of dual intent is really counterproductive.

There is one more thing I want to say about reform. Several people have mentioned the famous embassy in Dakar, which handles a very large number of files. Is it provided with sufficient resources? Reference was also made to the software or the Chinook program. What I've heard about it isn't reassuring either, but it's not clear either. There is concern without evidence, apart from the very high refusal rates we see.

Those are several things that need to be fixed. I think it could help reform the system.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Thank you.

Mr. Cimon, I ask you the same question, but also if you have any different suggestions from the ones that we just heard.

[Yan Cimon]

Thank you very much.

I'd like to add the importance of presenting students who want to come here with a consistent national message about the desire to immigrate and the desire to study. I'd also add that it's important that the infrastructure be there to serve us. I'm thinking, for example, of biometric fingerprinting services, which are geographically easy to access for international students from Asia, but very difficult to access for international students from Africa.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Malette, I ask you the same question as well.

[Alain-Sébastien Malette]

I would reinforce what my colleagues have been saying. As I mentioned at the end of my speech, subjective assessment criteria, such as dual intent, need to be reviewed thoroughly. Also, implement guaranteed turnaround times and, as I said, expand the student direct stream to other countries in Africa, not just Morocco and Senegal.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

I'll ask each of you to answer this question as well. Have you ever had the opportunity to raise any of these concerns and recommendations with the government? My understanding is that these rejection rates, which are a big problem, have accelerated to much higher levels from 2015 to present. Have you had the chance to raise your concerns with the government about these issues?

[Yan Cimon]

Université Laval does this through its communication channels. We also do this through our network of advisors. Every time we get the chance, we talk about it to elected officials and local leaders.

[Alain-Sébastien Malette]

Our answer is the same as that of my colleague from Université Laval.

I would also like to mention that each fall, we meet with many ambassadors from French‑speaking Africa and high commissioners from English‑speaking Africa. The same complaints keep coming back from one embassy to another and from high commissioner to high commissioner. This problem is well known.

[Luc Bussières]

I have nothing to add to what has been said.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

We will now proceed to Mr. El-Khoury. I understand that he will be sharing his time with Mr. Long. I will give a warning at three minutes.

Mr. El-Khoury, you have three minutes for your round of questioning. Please proceed.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to welcome our witnesses.

My first question will be for Mr. Cimon.

Mr. Cimon, can you tell us about the importance of francophone foreign students in francophone minority communities? How does an institution like yours support students in successfully establishing themselves in those small communities?

[Yan Cimon]

We have a variety of scholarship programs for international students. Those programs enable us to work both on attracting students and on helping them succeed, as it is very important for an international student we attract to our institution to be able to succeed and to have optimal conditions for graduating.

We also have tools to help them integrate into the community, including various activities and various partnerships with businesses and groups in the region. We also foster relationships with partner universities.

We have implemented a set of mechanisms that enable us to help students become very active and succeed in our communities.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

[Technical difficulties] you find the integration process with those communities?

[Yan Cimon]

I'm sorry, but I don't understand your question.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Do the measures you are implementing to help students integrate into francophone communities have an impact on those students' adjustment and integration rates?

[Yan Cimon]

We look at the situation of students who go through our programs and our mechanisms. We are seeing that students who visited Canada tend to acclimatize more easily. The retention rate for those students is much higher than for other students. That is very encouraging for us. For other students, we also have mechanisms that help them socialize more with the local student community. I would point out that, in our region, institutions and organizations of an economic nature are actively working on seducing and hiring international students.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Cimon.

Mr. Bussières, are you seeing a lot of former students settle in the region? What can we do to keep foreign students in francophone minority communities after graduation?

[Luc Bussières]

Thank you for the question.

We are seeing an excellent retention rate of students after they complete their studies. I was saying that about 50% of them find a job in northern Ontario, where they were not expected. Many people are wondering how we are managing to welcome people in small northern communities, in regions that are pretty ethnically homogenous.

People are doing well in that respect. Our strategy consists in welcoming them and helping them complete their studies, but also in helping them integrate into the community, remain in good mental health and maintain a sense of well-being. They have [technical difficulties] stayed on, even though they were doubtful in the beginning.

Some of them arrive in January, when it is -40°C. They tell themselves they could never survive in that environment, but, a few years later, they want to settle in the region, and they begin to adopt our habits and wear half open coats in the winter.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting. Thank you.

Ms. Lalonde, you have two minutes for your round of questioning. Please proceed.

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

I would like to thank all the witnesses, Mr. Malette, Mr. Cimon and Mr. Bussières, for being here.

Mr. Bussières, you have provided us with pretty exceptional numbers.

How does an institution like yours support students in successfully establishing themselves in the small community of Hearst, where you live?