As welcome signs were hung and orientation activities echoed across Canadian post-secondary campuses last week, thousands of international students were still back in their home countries, waiting to hear about the status of their study permits.
Mackenzy Metcalfe, executive director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, says the organization is hearing from several frustrated international students who are affected by backlogs at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
“These delays really impact how students experience campus,” Metcalfe said. “It means students won’t be able to attend campus until the middle of September, maybe even October, so they miss welcome week, getting to know campus, introductions to friends and those things that are really core to any student’s university experience.”
With international students already paying substantially higher tuition fees, advocates are pushing for the government to prioritize and process study permits faster. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says it is boosting staff and modernizing its systems to increase processing capacity and tackle the backlogs in the short term.
According to IRCC, as of Aug. 18, the number of study permit applications to be processed is 163,600. It says 64 per cent of those applications are currently within its service standard of 60 days. This leaves potentially thousands of students whose applications may not be ready in time for them to start the school year.
Anxiety high for international students
Metcalfe says this period of time in post-secondary education is especially meaningful for students coming from a different country, and any kind of delay can also result in additional financial strain.
“Even pushing back their start date by a couple of weeks can have thousands of dollars in implications in terms of rent and food and rearranging flights and accommodations to come study in Canada,” she said.
Some of these students worry they may lose a semester of school and say their anxiety over the situation is high.
Even pushing back their start date by a couple of weeks can have thousands of dollars in implications in terms of rent and food and rearranging flights and accommodations to come study in Canada. – Mackenzy Metcalfe, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations
Victoria, who is from Russia, said she applied for her study permit in January 2022 after being accepted to Ottawa’s Algonquin College for a design program.
“I postponed the start of classes twice — in May and September 2022,” she said. CBC News agreed to only use her first name as she worries speaking out will affect her application.
According to the IRCC, the average processing time for a study permit from outside Canada is 12 weeks, not including the time it takes to send an application between a visa application centre and its office. Victoria says she’s now going on eight months.
“I’m afraid I won’t have received an answer by the end of the year,” she said.
More communication from IRCC needed: lawyer
Lev Abramovich, an immigration and refugee lawyer at Abramovich & Tchern Immigration Lawyers, says international students he’s worked with have been angry and confused.
“Imagine you’ve completed all of the requirements, paid $50,000 for first year, you’re excited you’re going to University of Toronto … you’ve rented an apartment and the best years of your adult life are about to begin and instead you’re missing a year,” Abramovich said, referring to a situation one of his clients is facing.
Immigration lawyer Lev Abramovich believes Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada, which processes study permit applications, should have provided clearer communication to international students as it dealt with backlogs. (Submitted by Lev Abramovich )
Abramovich told CBC News the IRCC should have taken more responsibility in communicating with students so they could have made more informed decisions.
“If IRCC looked at the numbers, looked at how many resources they had, and said ‘Unfortunately, many of you won’t be processed,’ you could govern yourself accordingly. That has not happened,” he said.
IRCC says it’s working through backlog
In an emailed statement to CBC Toronto, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada spokesperson Julie Lafortune said that for the month of August, the department was able to process 84,000 study permits and 21,000 extension applications, which allow international students currently in Canada to continue their studies.
“To keep Canadians up to date on our progress toward reducing the backlogs, IRCC is publishing monthly data on our website,” Lafortune said.
According to the statement, IRCC also recently announced that the department will hire up to 1,250 new employees by the end of fall to increase processing capacity and tackle the backlogs in the short term.
“IRCC is moving toward a more integrated, modernized and centralized working environment in order to help speed up application processing globally,” she wrote.
Victoria says if she could apply for post secondary all over again, she would choose to study in a different country. So far, she says, she’s out $8,200 — the amount of her tuition deposit.
“If I knew about this, I never would have applied to Canada,” she said.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
