Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 108(1)(b), I rise as a member of the official opposition supporting the dissenting opinion appended to the report. We found that the government failed to consult communities on whether they could sustainably handle the massive influx of international students. While institutions collected record profits, international students were left at food banks and suffering from the heightened local housing crisis their large numbers were causing.
The lack of oversight from the government has recently come to light in the Auditor General's report, which found that the government investigated only 2.6% of the 153,000 suspected cases of international student fraud.
For these reasons, our recommendations include, among others, one, that international study permit approval be tied directly to regional housing availability, health care capacity and employment; two, that there be stronger language proficiency requirements to ensure student success; and three, that financial liability for institutions should be established when students overstay or file asylum claims.
I ask that the dissenting report opinion be appended to the committee report.