On Sunday, Canada’s immigration minister Marc Miller announced that the federal government is considering placing a cap on international students coming into Canada. The exact scale of the cap has not been announced yet, but Miller stated that the specifics would be hammered out within the first and second quarters of the year. He explained that the aim of such a cap would be to improve the current housing crisis affecting both international and domestic students.
This is not the first time the government has considered placing a cap on international students. Back in August, Cabinet Minister Sean Fraser floated the idea of placing a cap on the number of student visas issued. With close to one million international students having been admitted to Canada in 2023, Miller admitted the cap was long overdue and expressed dissatisfaction with the unrestricted nature of the current system.
Yet while the cap is certainly a necessary piece of the equation, it is a singular solution to what Miller calls a multifaceted problem. Government leaders also need to take into account the financial needs of universities in their reduction of international students — although several provinces have caps on domestic tuition, these tuition caps do not apply to international students, whose higher tuition rates are what universities have come to rely on. Miller emphasized that this will be taken into consideration when the issue is brought up at the negotiating table.
As for how this might affect those at UW, Rebecca Elming, director of media relations, stated that “university leaders are watching this conversation closely. Our top priority is supporting our students, domestic and international, whether they live on campus, or off.” She added that the university has been working regularly alongside various partners, such as the City of Waterloo, in order to provide resources for students searching for housing. “This is an issue that is top of mind for Waterloo,” Elming concluded, noting the university’s recent announcement about a forthcoming residence building, which will contain 500 beds.
