Immigration minister criticizes Conestoga for international student strategy
Immigration Minister Marc Miller had some strong words for Conestoga College at a recent online forum hosted by Toronto Metropolitan University.
Miller was asked about whether Ontario colleges and universities had developed an unhealthy reliance on international students – who are charged up to five times more in tuitions fees than domestic students.
Miller acknowledged the current system has incentivized institutions to use international students to balance their finances. Then he took aim at one school in particular.
“There is at least one institution in Ontario that had a $100 million positive balance at the end of the year and that, in my mind, isn’t the vocation of a college or university,” he said.
Conestoga reported a $106 million year-end surplus in its most recent annual report.
Miller said he wouldn’t “deny anyone the right to get profit.”
“But you’re doing it on a bunch of people who have sometimes had their family earnings pooled into one person, their hopes and dreams into one person… and have it dashed quickly when they can't get a job or get a crappy education and then have to file for asylum in some of the worst-case scenarios,” he continued.
International student enrollment at Conestoga College has grown by 1,579 per cent in the past seven years, jumping from just 763 international students in 2014-2015 to 12,808 in 2021-2022, according to a recent report by Ontario’s Big City Mayors.
During the same time period, international student enrollment increased 62 per cent at the University of Waterloo and 66 per cent at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Miller’s comments come as his government places a two-year cap on foreign enrollment that will reduce the number of new international student permits by 35 per cent in 2024. Some provinces, like Ontario, could see reductions of more than 50 per cent.
The federal government has also doubled the amount of money prospective international students need to show they have access to in order to obtain a study permit.
Miller comments on anti-immigrant sentiment in K-W
Miller was also asked to comment on the “increased anti-immigration sentiment, bordering on racism, that is now more evident in the Kitchener-Waterloo area because of the high international student population, specifically from India.”
“I can’t really blame people for feeling that way. There’s no housing and no jobs but it seems people are lashing out against or voicing their dissent against a group of people instead of the government. It’s not a very reassuring feeling as a brown person to know that in times of crisis, the immediate reaction is more ethnocentric in nature,” the audience member said.
Miller answered: “In tough times, the first people to pay for hardship have often been the most vulnerable and that includes people that are less wealthy, or racialized folks. That's just reality that's consistent throughout time. In this particular instance, we've seen in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, a significant increase in international students.”
Miller said he doesn’t fault people for wanting a better life, a job, or an education.
“But it has to be done in a way that is regulated and reasonable,” he continued. “And I think there have been large increases in the population there with a corresponding large increase in the cost of living. It's unfortunate that people then turn their gaze onto people that don't look like them. But that is often, sadly, the reality of human nature.”
“I think that we can do better. And I think we will do better once we have a system, when it comes to international students, that is something that is more controlled, and where the institutions themselves have more responsibility in making sure that those people are properly integrated into their surrounding neighbourhoods.”
Conestoga responds
CTV News requested an interview with Conestoga College President John Tibbits, but was told he was not available.
In an emailed statement, the college said boosting its international student enrollment has always aligned with the federal government’s immigration strategy.
“International students are catalysts for innovation and entrepreneurship in the province and Conestoga is proud to provide these future leaders with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed,” it continued, in part.
The college’s surpluses go back into the eight communities where its campuses are located in the form of campus expansion and renewal projects, student supports, and additional programming to meet workforce demands, it said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
Haida elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.