Science and Research committee  I will speak about the members of the union I represent, because I know their situation best. Not all international students have access to funding. Grant research funding is only available to the cream of the crop, whether it's Canadian or international. Federal government scholarships are available for international students to come to Canada, but only a small fraction of them have access to them.

Science and Research committee  The average salary for an entry-level post-doctoral position in Canada is approximately $70,000. It should be noted that not all post-doctoral fellowships are given to all post-docs. Only some get them, and salaries for post-docs who have a collective agreement can sometimes be below minimum wage.

Science and Research committee  Since the end of the pandemic, students' mental health problems have certainly been acute. The 58% of the student population that is reported to be suffering from psychological distress, which I mentioned earlier, was in the pre-pandemic period. We can only imagine the current numbers.

Science and Research committee  It's important to understand that over the last few decades, the picture of higher education has really changed. Today, a good portion of students are international students and they still want to come to Canada. However, once in Canada, they face challenges that are different from those of Canadian students.

Science and Research committee  Thank you. Good afternoon to the members of the committee. It is a real pleasure for me to have the opportunity to speak to you today in my home region. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe nation, and I would like to thank my colleagues for their interventions.