Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would like to begin by acknowledging that we are meeting on the traditional unceded territories of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
International students make important contributions to our communities, campuses, and economy. However, the program faced unprecedented growth during 2022 and 2023, bringing new challenges and the need for reform. That’s why the department has implemented a comprehensive set of reforms to the international student program.
To address program integrity issues, we introduced mandatory verification of acceptance letters for all student study permit applications, in order to detect and prevent fraud. This means that applications are not approved without a verified letter of acceptance from a designated learning institution. We also raised financial requirements to better reflect the cost of living in Canada, with yearly adjustments, so that students are more financially prepared to live in Canada during the period of their studies.
The volume of applications was too great, so we implemented an annual cap on study permits and introduced an allocation system with the provinces and territories. Provinces and territories allocate spaces to learning institutions based on community capacity and housing availability, among other factors.
Since 2024, when the cap was introduced, there has been a 21% reduction in study permit holders in Canada. The cap is working, because compared with the same period last year, Canada welcomed over 98,000 fewer international students, to better align with Canada's needs. Initial reports suggest that pressures on housing and local services are beginning to ease in communities with universities and colleges. We also tightened requirements for the work permit program, also called the PGWP, to bring greater focus on Canada's labour market needs, and introduced minimum language requirements.
In November 2024 we introduced additional program integrity measures. One, we set a new 24-hour weekly limit for off-campus work. Two, students who change learning institutions must apply for a new study permit so that we can better track where they are and the fact that they are studying. Lastly, we now have additional regulations to enforce compliance and reporting standards on learning institutions.
These reforms strengthen integrity and respond to the concerns of Canadians around the capacity of communities and institutions to support international students.
Through this period of change, we have worked and will continue to work closely with provinces, territories and the education sector to build a stronger and more sustainable program that will continue to welcome genuine students while preventing misuse of the program.
Thank you. I am happy to take your questions.