Minister calls the rise in foreign students seeking refuge an “alarming trend”

Immigration Minister Marc Miller describes the “alarming trend” of an “increasing number” of foreign students seeking asylum to remain in Canada after being granted student visas.

Miller stated that claimants frequently use the international student program as a “backdoor entry into Canada ” to reduce their tuition fees and that universities and colleges need to strengthen their screening and monitoring procedures to weed out bad actors. Miller made this claim in an interview with Mercedes Stephenson that aired on The West Block on Sunday.

He mentioned that his agency is looking into the matter and that more program changes are being considered.

Miller’s remarks were in response to Stephenson’s inquiry regarding Muhammad Shahzeb Khan’s refugee claim following his 2023 student visa entry to Canada. Khan is a Pakistani national who was detained in Quebec this month on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack against Jews in New York City.

After responding that he could not comment on Khan’s case because it was pending in court, Miller was questioned about the total number of foreign students who had requested refuge.

The minister stated that the number of individuals who, in theory, come to this nation with the means to sustain themselves and pay their tuition, which is four times what Canadians pay, is increasing. This is a cause for concern.

We observe that this occurs frequently during the first year of their stay here, frequently for less justifiable reasons than for others, most notably to lower the tuition to Canadian levels. There is some opportunism there that is being applied and taken advantage of.

According to Statistics Canada, international graduate students paid more than $23,000 in tuition fees last year, while Canadian graduate and undergraduate students paid, on average, between $7,300 and $7,600 yearly. The annual number of overseas undergraduate students exceeds $40,000.

The government declared last week that, in addition to capping levels 35 percent below previous intake levels, it will further reduce the number of foreign student licenses Canada provides by roughly 10 percent the following year.

Amid a population boom and pressure on housing and public services, the federal cap aims to lower the percentage of temporary residents in Canada from 6.5% of the overall population to 5%.

In an interview with The West Block, Miller reaffirmed his calls on schools and universities to improve their admissions and recruitment procedures as part of their responsibility.

He said, “This is not, for whatever reason, a backdoor entry into Canada; rather, it is a program aimed at international excellence.”

It’s a component of the reforms I’ve been working on for the better part of the year to ensure that our system for granting international student visas is better. These reforms include examining the long-term effects and burden of filing false or less credible asylum claims and detecting fraud at the outset, which is extremely important.

According to universities, enrolment of international students has decreased by 45% this year and is “far greater” than what Ottawa’s caps were intended to achieve.

Miller is “confident” during the screening but isn’t quite “satisfied.”

Following the detention of Khan and Ahmed and Mostafa Eldidi, an Egyptian father and son accused in July of planning an ISIS assault in Toronto, Canada’s security screening procedures are being closely examined.

Miller declared that the government is “confident in… the screening that operates in our country” during a Thursday hearing before the House of Commons National Security and Public Safety Committee.

“Am I happy with where we are right now? No, I don’t think the public safety minister or anyone else in my position would pretend that,” he replied.

Although we still need a security system that is always changing, things are far better now than they were even a few years ago when biometrics weren’t used, for example. And I believe that Canadians should find some solace in that.

Miller stated that he has given his deputy minister instructions to conduct an internal investigation into the events surrounding the recent instances, including Khan and the Eldidis’ entries, and to provide a report within the next 30 days outlining any “deficiencies that we need to fix” and whether the problem is “systemic.”

The minister declined to address specific claims on how the purported terror suspects evaded capture or raised concerns with border officials.

Noting that Mostafa Eldidi entered Canada via land from the United States, he noted that border security “is not a uniquely Canadian challenge” and that the government must collaborate with the United States and Mexico to update its security parameters.

He exclaimed, ” I can never be satisfied.” According to the statement, there are those trying to enter Canada with bad intentions, so we must be careful to stop these threats.