Orillia council supports Georgian call to lift student-visa moratorium

Orillia city council has supported Georgian College’s call to lift a moratorium on international student-visa processing for colleges and universities, following the federal government’s recent decision to cap the number of international students that can study in Canada over the next two years.

Earlier this year, the federal government announced it will cap the number of international students at 360,000 through 2024 — a 35 per cent reduction from 2023 levels — in an effort to “stabilize” the number of international students and ease pressure on housing, healthcare and other services.

As part of the cap, a moratorium on international student visa processing is in place until March 31 — a move that Georgian College CEO and president Kevin Weaver says is of “particular grave, immediate concern” for the college in a recent letter to Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac.

More than 50 per cent of the college’s 12,488 students are international students, and Weaver says the moratorium could have substantial negative impacts on enrolment in the coming year.

“Put bluntly, by halting processing, IRCC (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada) is jeopardizing our ability to attract new students to the region next year,” Weaver wrote.

“This is a critical time of year when students across the world decide where they will travel to study, and right now, the disruption in the system is already hurting Canada’s hard-earned global reputation as a leader in providing international education and creating uncertainty among local businesses and communities," he added. 

Weaver spoke of how international students “enrich our classrooms, campuses and regions,” and said the college could potentially lose up to $50 million through the policy changes, warning the move could also increase unemployment, labour market shortages, and reduce program offerings.

In his letter, Weaver requested the city reach out to IRCC officials regarding the “unintended and far-reaching” consequences of the new policy – a move that city politicians supported at Monday’s council meeting.

Council passed a motion calling for the student visa processing moratorium to be lifted, which highlighted the positive impacts of international students on the region, and that Canada’s housing issue is a “complex” issue with “no single driver.”

At the meeting, however, Coun. Tim Lauer said, regarding the cap, that it’s “generally agreed that this is a necessary action in regard to housing.”

“I think there's a public perception that the number of international students is having a negative impact on the availability of housing across the province,” responded Coun. Janet-Lynne Durnford. “This motion addresses that, in that it states that international students are simply one factor, and one very small factor, when it comes to availability of housing in the province and in Orillia.”

Durnford echoed Weaver’s concerns about the moratorium, noting there are prospective international students “who may be here now” and “may even have paid their fees" to study at Georgian.

“Georgian is counting on the enrolment of these international students, and certainly those international students are a huge part of our labour market,” she said.

“While the province brings in legislation that will potentially require colleges and universities to provide housing for international students — I did consult both with Georgian and with Lakehead, they are fully in support of those measures — this is just to reduce the immediate impact on this next term," said Durnford.