Madam Chair, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
My name is Robert Asselin. I serve as CEO of U15 Canada, Canada's 15 leading research universities. Together, our institutions conduct more than 75% of all university research in Canada, enrol 70% of the country's full-time doctoral students and generate much of the nation's innovation, from patents to private sector research contracts. Collectively, our universities are a national strategic asset; they are anchors of talent, research and innovation.
International students, especially graduate and post-graduate students, are essential to that mission. They bring skills and ideas that make Canada more innovative and more productive, thereby strengthening both our economy and our communities.
International graduate and postgraduate students are a crucial pool of highly skilled talent. More than half of those who took a master's or doctorate in the 2000s became permanent residents of Canada within a decade.
Canada ranks just 25th among OECD countries for the proportion of graduate degrees awarded. We can't allow ourselves to turn away top talent.
We recognize that changes to immigration policies were necessary, but treating all international students with a one-size-fits-all approach has created uncertainty, damaged Canada's reputation and reduced international enrolment.
At U15 universities, the share of international students has been stable at 18%-20% since 2018. However, for the first time in decades, we're now seeing steep declines. First-year international bachelor enrolments have dropped 19%. Graduate and doctoral programs are also seeing major reductions, particularly in engineering, computer science, health and life sciences. These are precisely the fields that underpin Canada's future economy and security. In graduate computer engineering programs, enrolment has dropped by more than 20% in a single year. This is the talent we need to build nuclear reactors, advance AI supercomputing, and strengthen our defence industrial base.
Because graduate students play such a central role as research assistants, these declines are already eroding the capacity of Canada's research ecosystem to deliver the discoveries and innovations our society and businesses depend on. Including graduate students in study permit caps has weakened Canada's research capacity at the very moment when sovereignty and competitiveness demands the opposite. Even the Speech from the Throne emphasized the importance of attracting the best and the brightest.
We, therefore, recommend three steps: one, rebuild Canada's reputation by sending a clear signal that we welcome top global talent, including the timely processing of study permits; two, exempt graduate students from study permit caps; three, target bad actors while supporting institutions that uphold the highest standards through a distinctions-based approach that recognizes excellence.
In a world where ideas, talent and technology define prosperity and security, our ability to attract and retain the brightest minds will determine our future. If we send the wrong signal now, we risk losing a generation of talent to our competitors, and with it, the innovations in industry that will shape the 21st century. If we act with urgency and clarity, however, Canada can cement its reputation as a global destination for excellence in research and discovery.
This is not just about universities. It's about our economy and security. We must choose ambition.
Thank you, Madam Chair.