“Historically” large number of foreign students is a problem
By Umendra Singh
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller admits that the large number of foreign students in Surrey, specifically, and in Canada, generally, is a serious problem.
And the situation the foreign students themselves are in is not good for them or for anyone.
At a press conference in Surrey earlier this week, Miller would not commit to agreeing to give the foreign students permanent residency visas automatically or anything close to it.
“The foreign students were given student visas and were not guaranteed or promised anything else – they were not promised a permanent resident visa if they attended and completed school in Canada,” Miller said.
He said his ministry is reviewing the situation to see what the best solution is, but it could be that the students would have to return to their home countries at the end of their studies.
Miller said that according to Statistics Canada, temporary residents (foreign students and those with temporary work permits) make up 7 percent of Canada’s population -and this large number puts a big strain on infrastructure and resources – including housing and health care.
The minister further agreed that the situation was not good in Surrey as half of all schools designated to accept foreign students are in Surrey. This means almost half of foreign students are in Surrey.
Separately. the BC government has estimated there are175,000 foreign students in BC, most of them in Surrey, and the BC government has ordered all schools in BC to limit foreign students to a maximum of 30 percent of their total student populations.
The Minister admitted there has been criticism about the high number of temporary residents, including foreign students, in Canada currently. “There is a lot of blame to go around,” he said.
He said there was a lot of blame to go around as to how the situation became so bad but said his Ministry is looking at how to bring this situation under control.
The government also wants to ensure that foreign students who have paid up to $40,000 to $50,000 each get a good education and that they aren’t taken advantage of by “unscrupulous actors.”
Ther Minister said he was looking for solutions on how to control this problem and bring the situation under control so that the foreign student programs returns to what they were intended to be.
Along with the historic number of foreign students, there are historic numbers of asylum seekers and refugees seeking refuge in Canada, including about 300,000 Ukrainians trying to escape a nuclear armed invader, Russia.
Along with the historic number of students a high number of work visas given to post graduate students.
“We have never had high numbers like this before and we need to get this under control,” he said. Answering a question, he said he has heard there are foreign students who are applying for refugee status at the end of their studies or in the middle of their studies but the Minister said he does not believe these claims will be successful.
Added to all this is what he described as “affordability challenge” including interest rates going up.
The Minister was unable to explain how transnational criminals =, specifically from India and Punjab, can brazenly move and commit crime in Canada, specifically in Surrey and BC.
He said that Canada is not immune to gangsters moving into Canada and operate here and extorting local business owners here.
He said it is a reality that gangsters move into Canada as they move into other countries, including USA. The Minister was unable to explain how international gangs are operating so smoothly in Canada. He blamed source countries (such as India) for not giving accurate data on criminal histories of those who apply for visas to Canada and said this why some criminals slip into Canada.
The Minister said he is looking at 485,000 new permanganate residents this year and 500,000 next and year and he said the government will look at people who are already here but tat does not mean foreign students will automatically will get visas. He said there may be lots of people with temporary work permits and foreign students may not get in, he emphasized.
Surrey Newton Liberal MP, Sukh Dhaliwal, who accompanied the Minister to the press conference said that the Liberal government has done more than any previous governments in welcoming new immigrants.
