I meant to say one million. I'm sorry about that.
The question remains: How can we prevent this?
My analysis of IRCC data found that the abuse was concentrated to a small number of places. Four colleges had more than 1,000 claims each. Three colleges had 100% of their international students claim asylum. Yes, it is shocking. This suggests that a central problem is not international students as a group, but that it is bad actors who profit from misinformation and exploitation.
My first recommendation is to penalize the bad actors. Immigration consultants and colleges are exploiting vulnerable students. They should face stronger penalties, meaningful enforcement and, where necessary, loss of designation or licence.
The second recommendation is to expedite asylum decisions for international students, which would take away any incentives for consultants or institutions to misuse the system.
Recommendation three is to better equip students by making sure they know what their options are before their study permits expire.
The third point is that I would encourage the committee to consider these debates in a historical perspective and ensure that our new caps and policies don't push us towards exclusion. I want to remind the committee of the Chinese exclusion act, which was enacted in 1923, just over 100 years ago, to effectively ban most Chinese immigration to Canada. This ban meant that Chinese people could not freely immigrate to Canada, and many families were unable to reunite here.
One of those migrants was my great-grandfather, Lou Yen. He came to Canada almost 150 years ago, but he was forced to return to China due to these exclusionary laws. My own family experienced the long shadow of exclusion through separation, constrained opportunities and the sense that belonging in Canada was always conditional. It would take my family five generations of effort for my two children, Jack and James Ujma-Su, to be born Canadians.
I mention this history because it reminds us that immigration policy is not just administrative. It also shapes who is seen as deserving, credible and welcomed.
Catherine Clement, my friend and an award-winning community historian, wrote the book The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act to tell the stories of those impacted by exclusion. I think this book needs to be in every school in Canada so that students can learn about these mistakes. I have brought some books for the committee members.
As the committee studies Canada's immigration system, the challenge is to respond to legitimate concerns with evidence, proportionality and historical awareness. Policies should target exploitation where it exists, while avoiding broad assumptions about entire groups. That approach could strengthen the system's integrity, while remaining consistent with Canada's legal obligations and democratic values.
Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.