Islamabad, Dec 5: Immigration Minister Marc Miller told the Commons immigration committee earlier this week that Canadian immigration authorities expect the majority of temporary permit holders to depart voluntarily, as over five million visas are scheduled to expire by the end of 2025. 766,000 of them are foreign students, a demographic that has been disproportionately affected by recent policy changes.
Miller responded to Conservative MP Tom Kmiec’s worries about maintaining compliance in the face of so many permits expiring by stating that procedures such as Canada Border Services Agency monitoring are in place to deal with infractions.
He did point out that certain temporary residents will be eligible for extensions or postgraduate work permits (PGWPs), so not all of them will have to depart. These licenses, which usually last between nine months and three years, allow international students to obtain the Canadian work experience required for applications for permanent residence.
Growing Difficulties for International Students:
Punjabi students have been demonstrating against Canada’s changing immigration laws in Brampton since August. Many of them are angry that they came with the hope of settling there permanently. According to figures from the Immigration Department, there were more than a million international students in Canada as of May 2023. 396,235 students had PGWPs by the end of 2023, which is almost three times as many as in 2018.
But with tighter immigration laws, students are up against fierce competition for permanent residency as tens of thousands of these permits are about to expire. Canada cited housing market concerns as a major reason for its 35% drop in international student permits in 2024 and its 10% reduction in 2025.
Policy and Political Discussions:
The growing number of asylum applications submitted by overseas students has recently alarmed Immigration Minister Miller, who emphasized measures to speed up claims processing in order to spot and handle false cases.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, attacked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plans, saying they fail to adequately address Canada’s housing problem and cause uncertainty for temporary residents. Debates about striking a balance between housing availability, economic needs, and temporary residents’ rights are being fueled by the changing immigration scene.
