New Delhi: Given the growing unemployment and housing crisis in Canada’s Immigration Minister Marc Miller on Saturday said in the next few months, he will be looking at the possibility of putting a cap on the number of international students living in the country, CTV News reported, according to ANI.
The minister, however, didn’t specify the extent of reduction the government is planning on making in the immigration system.
In an interview with CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, the minister said, “This is a conversation the federal government will need to have with provincial governments “to make sure that the provinces that have not been doing their jobs actually rein in those numbers on a pure volume basis.”
“That volume is disconcerting,” Miller said, with reference to the number of international students in Canada.
“It’s really a system that has gotten out of control,” he said, adding that he will be looking at the possibility of setting a cap on international students to help reduce the demand for housing in both the first and second quarters of this year.
Asked why his government is only considering a cap now when the idea was floated months ago, Miller said there’s a need to sort out numbers on a federal level before looking with “a little more granularity” at what individual academic institutions are doing in different provinces, possibly profiting off bringing in more international students, CTV News reported, according to ANI.
“We need to be doing our jobs and making sure that we have a system that actually makes sure people have a financial capability to come to Canada, that we’re actually verifying offer letters,” Miller said, adding, “And now it’s time for us to have a conversation about volumes and the impact that is having in certain areas.”
A cap on international students would not be a “one-size-fits-all solution” to housing shortages across Canada, Miller noted.
