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Canada commits to attracting and retaining more international students
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Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has released their response to the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM); on needed measures to attract, aid, and protect international students coming to, and already in Canada.
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CIMM is an internal government committee that studies matters of immigration and citizenship in Canada. They have oversight over IRCC and monitor the federal multiculturalism policy. The CIMM report was written to address the fact that while Canada is a global leader in attracting international students, some students may be placed in disadvantageous and vulnerable situations due to several factors that can be addressed by IRCC.
The report focused on three main objectives in relation to international students:
- Attracting international students to study in Canada;
- Ensuring equity in the International Student Program; and
- Improving service and communication for international students in the study permit and immigration processes.
The IRCC response focused on measures that can be taken, and are already in place to aid in these three objectives; covering each individually with the aim of reducing vulnerabilities and aiding international students through the permit application, study, and settlement process in Canada.
Attracting international students
The government recognized that from 2022 to 2023, the number of study permit holders is forecasted to rise to approximately 753,000 international students; while acknowledging the CIMM’s concern that despite increases, applications from certain countries and populations are not given adequate consideration by the department.
In response, IRCC has committed to:
- Explore expansion of the Student Direct Stream (SDS) to specific Asian, African and French-speaking countries. The SDS is a fast-track stream for obtaining a study permit for candidates from 14 countries;
- Investigate rates of study permit refusals (at large, and for Francophone African students specifically), destined for Quebec—through establishing a working group between Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI) and IRCC;
- Maintain and re-assess the scope of the Nigeria Student Express (NSE) stream—a study permit stream created to aid students applying from Nigeria; and
- Exploring how to best promote the transition to permanent residence for international students, particularly those with the skills, experience, and language levels necessary to succeed in Canada.
Ensuring equity in the international student program
The CIMM highlighted a number of areas in their initial report to IRCC, that identified potential initiatives to ensure equity in the international student program and application processes. In response, IRCC has committed to reviewing practices and ensuring equity throughout the International Student Program (ISP) by:
- Continuing to include questions pertaining to accessibility, race, and gender in the annual voluntary client experience survey, to learn more about how clients face unique challenges based on their demographics;
- Establish a Disaggregated Data and Analytics Framework (DDAF). Disaggregated data is data that has been filtered to understand specific relationships that it holds, based on demographic characteristics; to better understand how (for example) a specific group of people is impacted by a particular policy or phenomenon;
- Exploring patterns and determinants of social well-being on immigration cohorts, with a focus on different racial groups;
- Review the selection process for international students, and evaluate students on criteria more linked to their potential value; and
- Improving client service and communication
Improving service and communication to international students
Many of the CIMM recommendations involved the importance of providing clear and transparent information to clients and stakeholders, including around processing times and reasons for refusals. In reply to these, IRCC has responded by:
- Highlighting the recent hiring of 1,250 new processing staff by late fall 2022 to assist with processing capacity, and publish monthly data on the backlogs;
- Committing to work with Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) to implement collection of enrolment and status information data about international students, whereby DLIs will submit data elements to IRCC for real-time processing; and
- Expressing interest in continuing with initiatives like the 2022 pilot program wherein immigration officers proactively released their decision notes along with some temporary resident visa (TRV) applications, at the time of the decision, to ensure transparency and understanding;
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Freeland defends budget measures, as premiers push back on federal involvement – CBC News
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she thinks unhappy premiers will come around on measures in the federal budget that touch on provincial legislation, even as they push back.
At an event in Toronto on Sunday, Freeland — who presented the federal budget on Tuesday — said the national government needs to push ahead on such issues as housing and she was “extremely optimistic” premiers would choose to co-operate.
“Housing is a national challenge, and the federal government needs to be leading the charge,” she said.
“My own experience has been when there are big issues that really matter to Canadians, after all the sound and the fury, people are prepared to roll up their sleeves and find a win-win outcome for Canadians.”
Several premiers have pushed back against the federal government in recent months and again after the budget was released on the grounds that some measures touch on provincial jurisdiction.
In a letter released Friday by the Council of the Federation, which represents the leaders of all 13 provinces and territories, the premiers said Ottawa should have consulted them more ahead of the budget.
Individual premiers have shared more pointed critiques.
“It’s a never-ending spending platform that we’ve seen now for the last 10 years,” New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said on CBC’s Power & Politics on Friday.
“My initial thoughts about the federal budget are that they are overtaxing, overspending, overborrowing and over interfering in provincial affairs,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said earlier this week.
Alberta has clashed with the government repeatedly over housing. Smith introduced legislation earlier this month that would require provincial oversight of deals made between municipalities and the federal government, including for future agreements around federal housing funds.
Freeland said on Sunday that, as an example, the federal child-care program negotiated through a series of deals with provinces and territories showed that co-operation was possible.
Capital gains tax changes criticized
The federal government has also faced some opposition on what was perhaps the most prominent measure revealed on budget day: changes to Canada’s capital gains tax rules. The government has proposed raising the inclusion rate to 67 per cent on capital gains above $250,000 for individuals.
“The 21st-century winner-takes-all-economy is making those at the very top richer, while too many middle-class Canadians are struggling,” Freeland said Sunday, adding the government was asking wealthy Canadians to pay their “fair share.”
“We do need to ensure that we have some revenue coming in. This is a very limited way of ensuring that that occurs,” Treasury Board President Anita Anand said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday.
Critics have raised concerns that the changes could result in reduced investment or capital flight.
“The big concern right now … is this going to have a detrimental impact to the progress we’re trying to make in making Canada a hub for innovation,” said Kirk Simpson, CEO of the tech company goConfirm, in a separate interview on Rosemary Barton Live.
“With productivity the way that it is, we want more capital, not less, flowing into business innovation,” Simpson told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
Freeland said Sunday that the changes will affect very few Canadian individuals — the government estimates 0.13 per cent — and the revenue will go to pay for investments in areas like housing.
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‘A real letdown’: Disabled B.C. man reacts to federal disability benefit – Global News
B.C. man James Schultz lives with bipolar disorder.
He has been anxiously awaiting Canada’s federal budget, hoping it will help lift him out of poverty, as he is reliant on government support.
“I was looking forward to the idea of being able to be brought up above the poverty line,” he told Global News.
“Provincial disability rates sit at $1,480. I was thinking that the federal government’s new disability plan would at least get me bumped up to about $2,000 or $2,100 (a month).”
Now, after seeing the federal plan, Schultz said he feels behind the eight ball.
The Liberals first introduced a bill to create the Canada Disability Benefit nearly two years ago.
The Canada Disability Benefits Act became law last summer.
The purpose was to reduce poverty and provide financial security for disabled community members.
In Tuesday’s budget announcement, the amount of that benefit was revealed.
Canada has earmarked $6.1 billion for the benefit, which will be spread out over six years. It is estimated that 600,000 Canadians are eligible for the benefit.
With those numbers, it means eligible Canadians will get about $200 a month.
“It was almost like a dagger going through my heart — a real letdown,” Schultz said. “After finding out that it was only $200, it was very disheartening.”
Another blow, people must be eligible for the disability tax credit to qualify for the new benefit. Advocates said the tax credit program already excludes many people who are living with disabilities.
“We’re not convinced it’s even going to reach that many people. We’re hoping we can do some quick reform,” Karla Verschoor, with Inclusion BC, said. “I think the message was loud and clear that people were disappointed and frustrated.”
Global News asked Canada’s Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland to respond to criticism that the new benefit does little to lift some out of poverty.
“I agree with your question that it would be great to be able to do more and we aspire to that,” she said. “This is a big step, and better is always possible in Canada. We need to keep working hard.”
But those words provided little comfort to Schultz.
“It leaves somebody like myself struggling to buy groceries. Ninety per cent of my provincial disability amount goes to just bills alone. So it leaves myself in a very desperate split base,” Schultz said.
Schultz is hoping the province will increase the provincial disability assistance sooner rather than later.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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