Canada Aims to Attract and Retain International Students

IRCC has recently announced its reaction to the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM). Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada attempts to plan measures to attract, help and protect international students immigrating to Canada.

An Introduction to CIMM

It stands for the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. CIMM is an in-house government committee that studies and reviews the subjects of Canadian immigration and citizenship.

As per the CIMM’s report, Canada is one of the ruling countries attracting the majority of international students globally. However, there are a few unfavorable situations faced by international students that need to be resolved by the government.

Moreover, the report shows three main objectives for international students:

Attention to International Students

The Canadian government noticed that the number of study permit holders is anticipated to increase by 753,000 international students. However, for CIMM, applications from many other countries are not taken into consideration. On this, IRCC has responded to;

• Research to expand Student Direct Stream (SDS) to Asian, African, and French-speaking countries.
• Track the study permit refusal rates for Francophone African Students, intended for Quebec.
• Maintain and reconsider the improvements for the Nigeria Student Express stream.
• Find the best promotional strategies for International students to get Permanent Residence.

Securing Equity in International Student Program

CIMM guides several potential measures and activities to ensure an equity-based International Student Program and application process.

The key initiatives are as follows:

• Learning more about the applicant’s new challenges based on their demographics. To simplify, IRCC may include more questions in the client experience survey;
• Create a Disaggregated Data and Analytics Framework (DDAF);
• Study patterns and determinant factors of social well-being;
• Review the selection process and evaluate international students on a standard more linked to their potential value;
• Improving client service and communication

Improved service and communication with international students

The CIMM suggested building a clear and transparent channel of communication for international students, clients, and stakeholders. On this, IRCC has committed to;

• Show the recent hiring of 1,250 new processing staff by late fall 2022;
• Work with Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) to implement the collection of enrolment and status data about international students.
• Expressing interest in continuing with initiatives like the 2022 pilot program.