The impact on Okanagan College of new visa restrictions for international students imposed by both the provincial and federal governments is still being worked out.
Neil Fassina, president of Okanagan College, said the college is in full support of ethical requirements for accepting international students and ensuring those students get the education accreditation they are seeking.
sa国际传媒淭he support and fair treatment of our international students is a fundamental and essential element of how Okanagan College acts and behavessa国际传媒hat has always been our starting point,sa国际传媒� Fassina said.
That is exemplified by the collegesa国际传媒檚 support network in place for international students from the moment they apply for an OC program, and throughout their matriculation through to graduation.
sa国际传媒淲e pride ourselves on the quality and transparency of our programs that attract international students,sa国际传媒� he said.
Fassinasa国际传媒檚 comments come in the wake of an announcement in Ottawa last week by Immigration Minister Marc Miller, saying international student visas will be capped this year, meaning 360,000 students from abroad will be granted study permits this year, a 35 per cent reduction from last year.
In provinces with a higher proportion of international students, such as B.C. and Ontario, the reduction could come closer to 50 per cent.
The intent of the cap is to crack down on unscrupulous private colleges that market themselves internationally as reputable schools but, when students arrive from their home country, discover the campus consists of an office in a strip mall and classes that are mostly online.
On the flip side, some students are also reported to be getting a visa and then going to work rather than school once they reach Canada, and some have pointed a finger at the rise in international students for placing stress on rental home availability.
The federal government identifies about 280 private colleges and universities, the vast majority of which are located in the Lower Mainland.
On Monday, provincial Post-Secondary Education Minister Selena Robinson said new international student limitation tools will be put in place, the goal being to create set criteria that private colleges have to increase transparency around the level of education theysa国际传媒檙e delivering.
The province will pause approvals for two years, until February 2026, of new post-secondary institutions seeking to enrol international students, impose more frequent inspections of private post-secondary institutions to ensure quality standards are being met, higher standards for private degree programs, new minimum language requirements for private institutions, and more tuition transparency costs for public post-secondary institutions.
These new standards will give Robinsonsa国际传媒檚 ministry the power to control how many international students can be enrolled at each college or university, regardless of whether theysa国际传媒檙e public or private.
Fassina said what those numbers will be and the trickle-down effect on the college is still unknown.
sa国际传媒淗ow the changes impact us, from a numbers standpoint, are still not yet determined at this point,sa国际传媒� he said.
Okanagan College has an enrolment of about 2,000 international students, about 14 per cent of its student enrolment.
sa国际传媒淗istorically most of those students were at the Kelowna campus but over the last five to eight years, we have actually seen proportionately more growth from the standpoint of international student population at our Penticton and Salmon Arm campuses,sa国际传媒� Fassina said.
He said from the outset, OCsa国际传媒檚 policy has been to control the cost of international students on a break-even basis, and not as a profit vehicle to counter shortfalls in provincial funding as has been the case with other post-secondary institutions.
sa国际传媒淲e want all our students, domestic and international, to succeed. We bring students here to offer them amazing learning opportunities and learn skills that will give them the opportunity to enter labour market roles in their regions,sa国际传媒� he said.
While tuition fees charged to international students cover the collegesa国际传媒檚 costs to offer them a desired education pathway, Fassina notes it also allows the college to offer additional programs that otherwise could not be offered to domestic students due to limited enrolment.
sa国际传媒淚t helps to create volume enrolment in certain programs that otherwise might struggle. That is not subsidizing or displacing other students, but being able to offer more viable, broad program offerings,sa国际传媒� he said.
He added the presence of international students also adds to the educational experience for all students on the OC campuses across the Okanagan Valley.
According to the province, there were 176,160 international students in post-secondary institutions in 2021-22, the most recent period for which those statistics are available.
Of those, 81,545 were attending public post-secondary schools and 94,615 were attending private post-secondary schools.
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