OTTAWA – Proposed changes in federal rules regarding foreign students could hurt the viability of career colleges, warns a group that represents such schools.
In late December, the government announced changes it said were meant to prevent people from getting into Canada based on a false intention to study. It also said the rule changes would stop newcomers from being taken advantage of by operations that charge large sums of money for education that is not delivered.
The federal government said it will require proof of registration of foreign students at schools included in lists of designated institutions provided by provincial and territorial governments, which have jurisdiction in educational matters.
In the Canada Gazette, the government noted it would recognize some schools even without a designation from provincial and territorial governments, including “public post-secondary or private degree-granting institution(s).”
Serge Buy, CEO of the National Association of Career Colleges which represents about 400 schools across the country, said his members are not among those mentioned in the Gazette, and he’s not optimistic that provincial governments will take the initiative to give lists to the federal government under this program because they see it as a downloading of responsibilities.
“What it means is if a province decides, ‘We will not sign onto this agreement (with the federal government), we won’t provide the list,’ we’re out,” Buy said.
Career colleges are privately-run schools geared toward training students for specific jobs in programs that usually last less than a year, as opposed to the multi-year programs offered by universities and community colleges, which are government-run institutions.
Buy said federal officials have told him they are not familiar enough with career colleges and feel provinces, which govern education, should decide which schools are qualified to accept international students.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada said in a statement to Global News that “the educational institutions that currently host international students vary widely in terms of quality and accountability. In some cases, these institutions take advantage of international students by offering sub-par education, or promise courses or programs of study that they are unauthorized or unequipped to deliver.
“Such activities hurt Canada’s international reputation among prospective international students and may discourage them from choosing Canada as their destination for studies abroad.”
It added: “In 2013, additional public consultations led by provinces and territories will take place with key stakeholders on a proposed approach to the designation of educational institutions for the purpose of hosting international students.”
Buy said there are already lists available with provincial governments of recognized career colleges, the programs and instructors of which have to be approved by this level of government.
He said the federal government is already effectively endorsing career colleges by spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year to put employment insurance recipients through their programs, and by spending thousands of dollars to promote them abroad.
“Right now, at the present day, our members do have the ability to receive international students, so on that front it’s actually ridiculous to just take away something from us,” Buy said.
Buy said an immediate impact of this regulation, expected to take effect in 2014, would be risking the status of about 3,000 foreign students, who he said contribute about $30,000 on average annually – or about $90 million overall – to the Canadian economy. Due largely to increased efforts to attract foreign students, Buy said such numbers were expected to more than double in the coming years.
His association said federal regulations could put a halt on about 1,700 new jobs that were expected to be created at career colleges as a result of increased demand by foreign students, along with some cuts to existing jobs.
“There are some colleges that will close their doors,” he said. “There’s some training colleges that rely on a number of international students.”
Rudy Fiori, president of Liaison College, which specializes in culinary and hospitality studies and has 11 locations in Ontario, said about 15 per cent of his students are international, and those proportions are higher at its Toronto-area campuses. He said the proposed changes would put schools like his in “dire straits,” thus affecting their ability to provide practical and timely training to meet Canada’s labour needs.
“There would be some (campuses) that would have to close,” he said. “We don’t do student aid at the schools. . . . We rely on students that are paying for their programs, which international students do.”
Both Fiori and Buy said they are in favour of the part of these federal initiatives that would streamline work approval for international students, as it would make it easier for them to get practical experience while studying in Canada.
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