Education
Bad student visa policy is no solution for bad student visa policy
From the MacDonald Laurier Institute
By Ken Coates
Making matters worse, a Statistics Canada report released in November of 2023 found that the number of postsecondary students actually enrolled at Canadian Universities was 20% to 30% smaller than the total number of individuals with international student visa’s.
Post-secondary education is in turmoil, thrust into the headlines by the Government of Canada’s decision to cut back on international student visas and work permits. The near panicked response by colleges and universities across the county has attracted attention. The federal decision is poor public policy, with flawed timing, significant negative impacts, and potentially serious long-term implications. But the ‘solutions’ implemented in January 2024 are a classic example of using bad policy to address bad policy. The fallout from this mélange of policy decisions could severely damage Canadian post-secondary institutions and the Canadian economy.
Governments, colleges, and universities have come to rely on international students, now numbering close to 1 million in Canada, particularly their tuition fees and the money that they bring into the country. The tuition fee revenues freed governments from the obligation to provide adequate funding to post-secondary institutions. Colleges and universities, for their part, used international student funding to avoid difficult, painful decisions related to the level of provincial support (the territories are not strongly affected by these processes).
The current controversy reflects more than a decade of poor and ineffective federal policies. Canada opened the gates for immigration, reaching unprecedented levels of refugees, formal immigrants, and hundreds of thousands of international students. Making matters worse, a Statistics Canada report released in November of 2023 found that the number of postsecondary students actually enrolled at Canadian Universities was 20% to 30% smaller than the total number of individuals with international student visa’s. Pointing to significant abuse of the study permit system, the report states, “It is unclear whether [the international ‘students’] stayed in Canada and, if so, what their main activities were.”
Our rapidly rising population is now blamed, not always accurately, for a serious national housing shortage and sky-rocketing prices, particularly in the major cities. The international student debate highlights the shocking shortcomings of the nation’s approach to housing and the absence of a thoughtful plan for population growth and rapid urbanization.
Bad federal policy is more than matched by poor provincial decisions, particularly in Ontario. The Liberal and Progressive Conservative administrations in Ontario have underfunded colleges and universities, dramatically so, relative to the other provinces and territories. Frozen tuition fees only added to institutional fiscal challenges. Several provinces, again led by Ontario, doubled down by authorizing many for-profit private colleges, most operating in league with public universities and colleges, to recruit international students. At the provincial level, the influx of international students, coupled with high tuition fees, masked the deficiencies of provincial funding, leaving underlying financial challenges unaddressed.
Colleges and universities had bad policies of their own. Without the government funding to meet their salary, administrative and capital costs, post-secondary institutions became addicted to international student fees, the crack cocaine of advanced education. Dozens of colleges and universities, enrolled thousands of international students, feeding the bottom line but increasing the reliance on international students and high tuition fees. They assumed, over-optimistically, that the steady flow of international students would never slow, let alone stop. They are now paying the price for that miscalculation.
Some institutions, particularly small institutions in northern and small-town locations, eve established satellite facilities in big cities to capitalize on strong student demand and to supplement small and stagnant enrollments on the home campus. International students and satellite operations were lifelines for institutions that would otherwise be in severe difficulty.
The Government of Canada’s response to the convergence of multiple bad policy streams consists of additional bad policy decisions. International student visas have been slashed by 35% and student-friendly work permit arrangements have been cut back dramatically. Canada’s once wide-open doors for international students have been partially closed. A carefully cultivated reputation for being receptive to foreign students has been degraded, if not dismantled, in one quick federal move.
The federal policy, announced with seemingly little coordination with provincial authorities and institutions, is a plainly political move, an urgent step taken by a Liberal government reeling in the polls. The decision was released in January 2024, at a key stage in the international student cycle. Colleges, public and private, are vulnerable to dramatic shifts in enrollment and they now face catastrophic losses of income. The implications go much further. Residences will want for students and employers of the eager international students will struggle to find replacements. Many college and university faculty and staff, particularly vulnerable short-term and sessional workers, will likely lose their jobs. And the national economy will lose out on a big portion of the billions of dollars spent annually by the international students.
The problem has been years in the making. The government may have been trying to make up for lost time but the hasty federal decision has already had an impact. Colleges and universities are already reporting sharp drops in applications. The message that Canada is no longer friendly for international students is out globally. The damage to student enrollment might be greater than anticipated.
A more appropriate approach would have been to announce a gradual reduction, starting in 2025, giving the colleges and universities time to adjust to a potential fiscal disaster. Another sensible alternative could have been to take aim at the abuse of the student visa system and to ensure those who entered the country under a study permit were actually enrolled in and attending classes. Bad policy often comes from knee-jerk reactions to political processes; good policy takes careful thought and, often, time.
Canada’s large international student recruitment industry brought billions of dollars into the Canadian economy. Thousands of students worked while they studied and made successful transitions to permanent resident status. Many people who came to Canada as high fee-paying students have become Canadian citizens and taxpayers. The students followed the rules, as did the colleges and universities that capitalized on clear and long-standing government policy. The federal and provincial policies may have been poorly designed and inappropriate, but governments set the parameters and expectations and shouldn’t punish others for their shortsightedness.
Bad policy, to be succinct, is no solution for bad policy, but that is what is happening to international student education in Canada.
Ken Coates is a distinguished fellow and director of Indigenous affairs at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a professor of Indigenous governance at Yukon University.
Education
Why Don’t Men Go To University Any More?
What will that mean for universities…and for 21st century work?
A while back, I mentioned the strange case of the disappearing university male. In that context I wondered how the educational establishment – in whose eyes a university degree is a primary success metric – are addressing the 58% (female) to 42% (male) disparity blocking male success. But I didn’t get around to asking why it’s happening.
However, here’s a fascinating recent post from American writer Celeste Davis that dives deep, deep down the rabbit hole. The article first references a handful of more mainstream theories seeking to explain the gap, including:
- High tuition costs (which, I guess, just don’t bother women?)
- Boys having weaker academic skills
- Boys being exposed to negative messaging in early grades
- Politically left-friendly campuses that attract more women
- More high-paying career alternatives for men
Davis agrees that those are probably all contributing factors. But she turns her attention to what she feels is the big driver: male flight. Perhaps, goes the argument, young men just don’t see themselves thriving in career fields that appear to be dominated by women. The more women enrolled in last year’s university cohort, the more of this year’s men decide to check out of university altogether.
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Or, as Davis puts it:
“For every 1% increase in the proportion of women in the student body, 1.7 fewer men applied. One more woman applying was a greater deterrent than $1000 in extra tuition!”
According to Statistics Canada, overall male enrollment as a proportion of total university populations has dropped by 4.4 percent since 1992. Canada might not be experiencing the same painful overall drops in university enrollments they’re seeing south of the border, but we may not be too far behind.
All this seems to be true of universities in general, but the impact might be more visible in specific programs. In fact, the biggest changes have impacted a handful of university program categories:
- Personal, protective and transportation services – which include law enforcement and fire fighting. Male participation dropped from 85 percent of enrollment in 1992 to just 43 percent in 2021.
- Agriculture, natural resources, and conservation, which saw a decline from 55 percent to 38 percent.
- Physical and life sciences and technologies saw male enrollment drop from 49 percent to 24 percent.
- Social and behavioural sciences and law enrollment fell from 38 percent to 29 percent.
Celeste’s theory is that, rather than external forces driving declines in male participation, it’s the entry of more and more women into academic programs that lies behind the changes.
I don’t think anyone’s suggesting that the solution to the problem is to impose enrollment quotas to limit entry for women. Quotas are evil.
In fact, I’m not 100 percent convinced that this is a problem that even needs solving. That’s partly because I don’t buy the line that university is always the most reliable route to social and economic success. It’s also because I don’t see a down side to relaxing and allowing market forces to work things out for us.
One thing that is worth our attention is the damage these trends might cause the higher education industry over the long term. Upwards of three percent of Canada’s GDP can probably be attributed to the higher education sector. And Canadian universities employ more than 343,000 people – around one of every 80 employed Canadians. You and I may or may not have a direct connection to higher education, but its decline would definitely leave a mark.
It’s worth noting that, for all the chaos those trends might spark within the higher education industry, they appear to be having a surprisingly minor impact on the actual workforce. Employment data from Statistics Canada shows us that the proportion of male workers changed by less than three percentage points between 1987 and 2023 in all but a few of the 18 job categories tracked. The exceptions included:
- Public administration, where the percentage of workers who were male fell from 61 percent in 1987 to 48 percent in 2023.
- Educational services, which saw the number of male teachers and administrators fall ten points from a representation of 42 percent to 32 percent.
- Male participation in the finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing industries actually rose from 41 percent to 47 percent.
But the exceptions were far less interesting than the fields where there was no significant change. Compare the four percent drop in agricultural employment to the 30 percent by which enrollment in agriculture, natural resources and conservation programs fell.
Similarly, the 25 percent drop in male participation in science and technology programs doesn’t seem to play out in the real world: male employment in professional, scientific and technical services is effectively unchanged since 1987.
Those enrollment vs employment designations aren’t perfectly aligned, of course. And employment data does have a far longer built-in lag than university attendance. But the gaping disparity does suggest there are a lot of women signing up for courses but not following up by getting related jobs.
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Education
Saskatchewan school board defends policy to allow boys in girls’ change rooms despite parents’ protests
From LifeSiteNews
The rural Saskatchewan school district’s director of education said ‘it is the right thing to do for our students, staff and school communities’ to allow biological boys to use the same locker room as girls who feel uncomfortable about the situation.
Despite an outcry from concerned parents, a Canadian school board told them it supports allowing gender-confused boys access to girls’ change rooms.
Last week, LifeSiteNews reported about Balgonie Elementary School in rural Saskatchewan where a female seventh grader told her parents she was not comfortable sharing changing rooms for gym class with gender-confused biological males.
Despite the outcry, the Prairie Valley School Division (PVSD) in a recent email sent to parents claimed that the school division’s inclusivity policy trumps the rights of girls from being victimized by gender-confused boys.
“One important part of creating these safe and welcoming spaces is ensuring our schools operate in a way that respects the human rights, dignity and privacy expectations of all students and their families,” PVSD director of education Gord Husband wrote in an email to parents.
Husband said the school division’s policies and procedures are “carefully aligned with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.”
“We operate according to these documents not only because it is our legal obligation, but also because it is the right thing to do for our students, staff and school communities,” he added.
Husband’s email did not mention the issue at Balgonie Elementary directly but instead claimed it was a “human rights” issue and asked all parents to support “all students.”
The father of the girl, who remains anonymous, said that after his daughter raised the issue of the biological males using the girls’ locker room, saying she “felt uncomfortable,” she was told, “she can change in a different room by herself.”
The issue drew the attention of Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe. He said that his first “order of business” should he be re-elected to lead the province will be to ban gender-confused boys from accessing girls’ change rooms in public schools.
As reported by the Western Standard, the gender-confused boys using the girls’ change rooms are in fact those of Saskatchewan NDP MLA Jared Clarke.
One of the concerned parents noted that learning this fact is “insane.”
“Wow, that’s insane, Sask NDP candidate from the NDP party, but not surprised that someone from that party would do that to a child. The NDP is really pushing that agenda and it’s so disturbing,” said the parent, as reported by the Western Standard.
Saskatchewan’s provincial election will be held October 28.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, LGBT indoctrination targeting kids has been on the rise in Canada and worldwide, leading to Canadians fighting back in protest.
Earlier this week, LifeSiteNews reported that a leading female gender ideology activist, who also worked as a school counselor, has been charged with grievous sexual offenses involving a minor.
Provinces such as Alberta, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan have in recent months proposed legislation that would strengthen parental rights.
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