January 23, 2024

New federal rules punish international students for a crisis they are victims of: Madhu Centre

The Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre joins migrant advocates from across Canada in calling on the federal government to rethink new rules imposed today on international students coming into Canada.

The announcement lays the blame for the housing crisis at the feet of international students, while saying nothing about speculative investment, financialization of housing and the lack of tenant protections in most parts of the country, including in New Brunswick.

A new callous rule prevents the spouses of international students in undergraduate or college programs from being able to work in Canada. With increased costs of living, not having the ability to work will force international students into family separation as spouses remain back home.

"International students must already struggle with isolation when they arrive in Canada. This new rule will make life even more difficult for the people we work with," said Aditya Rao, Board Member of the Madhu Centre.

Another rule prohibits students victimized by private colleges from being able to obtain a Post Graduate Work Permit, thus penalizing the students instead of holding unscrupulous private colleges accountable.

"Landlords are raising rents and investors are gambling with housing. International students are a convenient scapegoat for a government that refuses to hold the real perpetrators of the housing crisis accountable," Rao said.

The Madhu Centre joins the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change in calling for stronger protections for international students, an end to immigration precarity and status for all.