Fixed Numbers Of International Students For Each Canadian Province Being Considered

Colin Singer
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Fixed Numbers Of International Students For Each Canadian Province Being Considered

An unnamed source has reportedly told CBC News that British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia could be hit with limits on the number of international students they can welcome at their colleges and universities.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Star has reportedly seen an internal federal government memo outlining plans to set a fixed number of international students for each province.

The reported leak of information about caps on study visas in certain provinces where the housing stock may be deemed insufficient for the number of temporary residents comes after Immigration Minister Marc Miller floated the idea of caps on international students.

“Housing remains a pressing concern, especially in the post-COVID landscape, with the rise in interest rates, supply constraints, and affordability issues,” said Miller.

The immigration minister has expressed his commitment to closely examine the influx of international students and temporary residents entering Canada due to worries that record immigration is contributing to the country’s housing crisis.

Under the 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan, Canada is now planning to welcome 485,000 new permanent residents in 2024, another 500,000 in 2025 and then hold the line on immigration in 2026 with another 500,000 newcomers.

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That’s a total of 1.485 million immigrants to Canada over those three years.

Even senior economists with the country’s biggest banks are now saying that level of immigration to Canada has been poorly managed.

“Frankly I’m surprised we screwed it up because we sit in such a privileged position in Canada,” Beata Caranci, chief economist at Toronto Dominion Bank, has reportedly said.

“We designed our own policy, we put it in place, we implemented it, and we still screwed it up.”

Stéfane Marion, chief economist at National Bank of Canada, seems to agree, describing Canada’s immigration policies as a “population trap”.

Ottawa has responded to the housing crisis and the rising numbers of international students – some of whom are now warning their compatriots back home not to come to Canada – by  roughly doubling the amount of money international students will need to study in Canada.

That move, however, was presented by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) not as an attempt to limit the number of international students but only to ensure that those who do come to Canada have the needed financial resources given the rising cost of living.

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Foreign nationals who apply for a study visa now need to demonstrate they have access to $20,635, up from $10,000.

“International students provide significant cultural, social and economic benefits to their communities, but they have also faced challenges navigating life in Canada,” said Miller.

“We are revising the cost-of-living threshold so that international students understand the true cost of living here. This measure is key to their success in Canada. We are also exploring options to ensure that students find adequate housing.”

The CBC News report claims Canada was on track as 2023 came to an end to have welcomed 900,000 international students.

Studying In Canada Allows Foreign Nationals To Gain Canadian Work Experience

Once in Canada, international students are able to work on campus without a work permit while completing their studies if:

  • they have a valid study permit;
  • are full-time students at a post-secondary public school (college or university, or CEGEP in Quebec), or at a private college-level school in Quebec that operates under the same rules as public schools and is at least 50 per cent funded by government grants, or at a Canadian private school that can legally award degrees under provincial law, and;
  • have a Social Insurance Number.

International students are also usually able to work off-campus without a work permit  while completing their studies – when the current liftin of the 20-hour rule is not in effect – if:

  • they have a valid study permit;
  • are full-time students in a designated learning institution (a post-secondary program, or in Quebec at a vocational program at the secondary level as well);
  • their study program is academic, vocational or professional, it lasts at least six months and leads to a degree, diploma or certificate;
  • they are only working up to a maximum of 20 hours per week during regular academic sessions, and full time during scheduled breaks (for example, winter and summer holidays or spring break).

Certain study programs include work requirements such as co-op or internships. In such cases, a work permit is required in order for the foreign student to be able to complete the work.

With the work experience and education gained while at Canadian colleges and universities, many international students then apply for permanent residence in Canada under such immigration programs as the Express Entry’s  Canada Experience Class Program  (CEC).

Bank Experts Say Canada In A Population Trap

Colin Singer
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0
Bank Experts Say Canada In A Population Trap

National Bank Financial Inc. report sats Canada is caught in a “population trap” that only exists in up-and-coming markets, wherein the booming population of a country starts clashing with the limits of the infrastructural capability needed to absorb that population.

In such a scenario, the standard of living plateaus because the population is “growing so fast that all available savings are needed to maintain the existing capital-labour ratio,” as per NBF.

The Special Report highlighted that the country’s population growth in 2023 was 3.2%, which is five-fold that of the OECD average. Moreover, all ten Canadian provinces grew at a rate that was at least twice as fast as the OECD, ranging from 1.3% in Newfoundland to 4.3% in Alberta.

“Our country’s current population growth appears extreme relative to the absorptive capacity of the economy and the fact that our workforce is not aging faster than the OECD average.”

“Nowhere is this absorption challenge more evident than in housing, where the supply deficit reached a new record of only one housing starts for every 4.2 people entering the working-age population (compared to the historical average of 1.8).”

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Although Ottawa has introduced recently introduced programs to increase housing supply, Canada would be required to double its housing construction capacity to roughly 700,000 starts per year to meet current demand and reduce shelter cost inflation – an unattainable goal.

Either way, Canadian policymakers need to recognize, as per the report, that population growth is an impediment to the country’s economic well-being. Real GDP per capita being at a standstill for six years is a case in point, and is not simply a result of a lack of housing.

The collapse of Canada’s capital stock per capita close to 1.5% in 2023 means that the Canadian population is growing so rapidly that Ottawa does not have enough savings to stabilize its capital-labor ration and achieve an increase in GDP per capita.

This marks Canada’s first population trap in modern history.

“More worrisome is the fact that the decline is not simply due to a lack of housing infrastructure. In fact, the private non-residential capital stock to population ratio has been declining for seven years and is currently no higher than it was in 2012, while it is at a record high in the U.S.,” NBF said.

The report suggests that Canadian policymakers should set population goals against the constraint of the country’s capital stock, which goes beyond the housing supply, if housing supply is to be improved. This requires that annual population growth not exceed 300,000 to 500,000 if the population trap is to be escaped.

The suggestion in question may seem rendered redundant when considering the government’s annual immigration levels plan, which is set at 485,000 new PRs in 2024, 500,000 in 2025, and 500,000 again in 2026.

The federal government is, however, working to stabilize the number of immigrants to Canada every year in response to reports of the so-called population trap.

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The Canadian Press reported recently that internal documents from 2022 show Immigration Department employees warning their deputy minister that a large increase in immigration could have dire effects on housing and services access.

These warnings were not heeded to at the time, and the immigration numbers were towered to 500,000 – nearly double the amount in 2015.

In a joint statement from Friday, the Liberal ministers defended this decision by pointing towards the need for post-pandemic recovery in Canada.

“Had we not increased immigration post-pandemic, the economy would have shrunk. Businesses facing an acute labour shortage would have closed. The social services Canadians needed, including in health care, would be further delayed or even more difficult to access,” the statement said.

Immigrate To Canada As A Pharmacy Assistant: All You Need To Know

Colin Singer
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Immigrate To Canada As A Pharmacy Assistant: All You Need To Know

There are hundreds of jobs for pharmacy assistants going begging for a want of qualified workers to fill them in Canada, providing opportunities for foreign nationals to gain their permanent residence here through occupation-targeted Express Entry system draws.

With Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) changing Canada’s Express Entry system to allow it to target 82 jobs in healthcare, technology, trades, transport and agriculture this summer – including pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants – it opened the door to a new pathway to immigration for them.

Job Bank, the federal government’s job-hunting and career-planning website, listed 267 pharmacy aide jobs in Canada in early November. In Alberta, there were 67 jobs for these workers and another 61 in Quebec.

Canada’s biggest province, Ontario, had 54 job openings for pharmacy aides, British Columbia had 39 and Saskatchewan another 30.

The job prospects of pharmacy aides, also called pharmacy assistants or pharmacy technical assistants and categorized under the National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 system with the code 33103, are ranked as very good, Job Bank’s highest rating, for the Prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba over the coming three years.

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The job prospects of these workers are ranked as good in Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario and the Yukon and moderate in Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and British Columbia during the same time frame.

“The aging population and the rising need for long-term care is projected to put further pressure on the demand for health services assistants,” notes the Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS) website.

“The growing number of seniors will continue to increase the need for hospital, nursing home, and long-term care centre services where these workers provide front-line services.”

In May this year, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) made all of these workers eligible for immigration to Canada Express Entry occupation-targeted draws.

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The flagship Express Entry selection system had previously only conducted draws based on immigration programs, not by targeting specific occupations.

“Everywhere I go, I’ve heard loud and clear from employers across the country who are experiencing chronic labour shortages,” said then-Immigration Minister Sean Fraser.

“These changes to the Express Entry system will ensure that they have the skilled workers they need to grow and succeed.  We can also grow our economy and help businesses with labour shortages while also increasing the number of French-proficient candidates to help ensure the vitality of French-speaking communities.”

In Canada, the median hourly wage for pharmacy aides is  $21 but that varies from a low of $15 right up to $28, reveals Job Bank.

Pharmacy Aides Can Earn Up To $54,600 Annually In Canada

Based on a 37.5-hour work week, that means a pharmacy aide can expect to earn up to $54,600 annually in Canada.

Candidates hoping to immigrate through Express Entry occupation-targeted draws need at least six months of continuous work experience in Canada or abroad within the past three years in one of these occupations to be eligible, experience that can have been gained while working in Canada as temporary foreign workers with a work permits or as an international student with a student visa.

Under the changes announced at the end of May, the Express Entry streams, including the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program and Canadian Experience Class (CEC), as well as parts of the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) are now more responsive to labour market needs.

Canada first signalled its intention to start occupation-specific draws through Express Entry in June last year, when changes were made to the Immigration, Refugee and Protection Act to allow invitations based on occupations and other attributes, such as language ability.

The majority of Canada’s provinces have been issuing occupation-specific invitations for several years.

Under the changes to the act, the immigration minister is required to consult provinces and territories, members of industry, unions, employers, workers, worker advocacy groups, settlement provider organizations, and immigration researchers and practitioners, before announcing new categories.

IRCC must also report to parliament each year on the categories that were chosen and the reason for the choices.

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) says the number of occupations facing shortages doubled between 2019 and 2021. From 2018 to 2022, federal high skilled admissions accounted for between 34 and 40 per cent of overall French-speaking admissions outside Quebec, which manages its own immigration intake.

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