Citizenship and Immigration committee  As a start, we shouldn't be raising giant, exorbitant amounts of tuition fees on these students. I have some of the figures in front of me for international undergraduate students. They pay $36,123 every single year, just on average. Here in Ontario it's significantly higher. I actually received an email yesterday from the University of Ottawa saying that they're raising international student tuition by 12%.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  —we see many different crises, but the actual solution to put in place to ensure that these students have the resources and the supports that they need is to essentially treat them like domestic students.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, that's correct.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes. That's actually a great point. When we visited these students and spoke to them directly, they wanted me to communicate one thing to this committee and to all the different stakeholders trying to see that these students have a pathway to justice. They made it a point for me to mention to everyone that they're not looking for any special treatment.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I would say, because you mentioned that study or report from a few years ago, I believe it's recommendation 17, specifically, that talks about ghost consultants. As well, we certainly need to have not just more regulation, but actual regulation around ghost consultants in this country.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely. The federal government should be able to increase the regulations with regard to ghost consultants. I believe, as I mentioned in my opening speech, this committee enacted a study on that same exact issue. To my knowledge, those recommendations have not been implemented properly.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It would be incumbent upon the federal government to have those conversations take place. Considering the education system, as we have it right now, is so heavily reliant on international students as revenue sources—specifically at many of these institutions—it doesn't make any sense why we would not want to ensure the highest ethical practices when we sign off on approving different recruiters.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for the question. I am not aware at this point of whether the government has reached out regarding their mental health. I can certainly agree with the students, and from all the students I've spoken with, the longer this goes on, the larger a toll it takes on their mental health.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely. They need to take the initiative. I think it's incumbent on all parties involved to be proactive and take the initiative to reach out and make sure those resources are available for those students.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Sure.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Those are definitely aspects the government should be looking at, because right now we're taking in a certain number of international students every single year. According to the latest estimates, I believe we have just over 800,000 international students. Obviously, given the realities of the situation, especially in major urban centres like Toronto and Vancouver, where there is a major housing crisis going on, we've heard reports of some students having to pay up front a whole year's worth of rent just to secure a placement.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I would like to begin by acknowledging the students who are impacted and all their advocacy work. We are here today only because of the students who stood and slept outside, endured flooding and told their stories in protests 24-7 for 18 days. Justice cannot wait for these students, which is why it is imperative that they see immediate and permanent solutions to stop the deportations immediately, waive inadmissibility and provide immediate access to regularization and permanent residency.