New international student numbers in Canada down significantly, but overall decline more moderate, study says

2026/05/07 Leave a comment

Of note:

Ottawa’s measures to cut foreign students may have dramatically reduced the number of new cohorts entering the system in the last two years, but the decline in total international student enrolment has been “more moderate,” says a new report.

The study by Statistics Canada on international enrolment in public post-secondary institutions estimated that the number of new students had dropped by 64 per cent from 216,867 in the 2023-24 academic year to just 77,939 in the current school year.

Over the two-year period, colleges saw their new international student intakes nosedive by 102,188 or 75 per cent, while universities saw a decrease of 36,740 or 46 per cent, it said. 

However, the agency’s estimates showed that the total number of international students decreased by only four per cent in 2024-2025 and by 26 per cent in 2025-2026. Over two years, it represented a loss of about 124,000 students, bringing the population back to nearly 300,000, levels similar to the second academic year of the pandemic (2021-22).

“These measures may have significantly reduced the size of new cohorts of international students (-64 per cent) in 2025/2026 and, more moderately, the total number of international students in public postsecondary institutions,” said the report released on Tuesday.

“A steady decline in the number of international students is anticipated in Canada.” …

Source: New international student numbers in Canada down significantly, but overall decline more moderate, study says

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Telus using AI to alter the accents of customer service agents

2026/05/07 2 Comments

Understand the concerns but on the other hand, as someone whose cancer treatment impaired my hearing, both physically and mentally, this would be an improvement:

…For labour representatives, the feature is another concern among many when it comes to the effects of AI on their members. 

At a hearing before the parliamentary standing committee on industry and technology last week, Roch Leblanc, Unifor telecommunications director, called on government to require companies to inform Canadians when AI was being used. 

He told members of Parliament that the union was aware of at least one Big Three telco using AI to mask the accents of offshore agents, “altering how customers perceive who they’re talking to.”

“The use of AI technology to deceive Canadians in any way should be prohibited,” he said.

United Steelworkers Local 1944 president Michael Phillips said he is aware of Telus using the technology internally, between agents based in Canada and overseas. 

He said that he was informed by a B.C.-based Telus employee that they had spoken with an agent in the Philippines. According to that employee, “this overseas agent was laughing about it, turning the accent masker on and off, revealing their Filipino accent, and then, taking the accent away when they turned on the AI technology,” Mr. Phillips said.

“As we’re trying to figure out what the parameters around AI and AI limitations are, I think that a very clear right that Canadians should insist on is the right to not be deceived by AI, especially not by folks that they are paying to provide telephone services for,” he said….

Source: Telus using AI to alter the accents of customer service agents

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Policymakers should be prepared for a ‘new reality’ after immigration cuts, think tank warns

2026/05/07 Leave a comment

Good note on how to interpret the study in this note of caution to immigration advocates:

…The think tank’s report warns that any misinterpretation of the data could lead to counterproductive stimulus, such as unnecessary interest rate cuts or new spending. 

“There’s concern that they won’t recognize that that’s the new reality,” said Don Drummond, a former senior executive at the Department of Finance and now a fellow-in-residence with C.D. Howe.  

Drummond said the recent cuts to immigration and temporary foreign worker levels were the right calls because Canada didn’t have the housing or health-care capacity to support the previous levels. The challenge, he added, is to understand that the new, lower levels will automatically have an effect on other statistics that are in part a reflection of population changes. 

The new report forecasts that total Canadian employment will decline this year and next and that inflation-adjusted economic growth will be between 0.4 and 0.5 per cent in the near term. It also forecasts that employment will fall by 54,000 this year and another 17,000 in 2027, assuming that the economy is neither overheated nor lacking demand. 

But those middling numbers are in part a function of demographic changes. “The risk is not poor performance,” the report stated, “but misinterpretation.”….

Source: Policymakers should be prepared for a ‘new reality’ after immigration cuts, think tank warns

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Archives see surge in Americans requesting family records to access Canadian citizenship

2026/05/06 Leave a comment

Yet another article on Americans seeking to establish Canadian ancestry. Good note of caution from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship and the weakening of citizenship:

…The change in citizenship law has meant a surge of requests from Americans for birth records at the provincial archives.

“So the old slogan, ‘be … in this place,’ if they can prove that they were in this place through descent, then they are eligible to become Canadian citizens,” said Joanna Aiton Kerr, the provincial archivist.

Aiton Kerr said the calls started coming in December of last year and haven’t slowed down since.

Provincial Archives staff are currently sifting through a backlog of over 1,000 requests, but it’s hard work, especially when they’re getting an additional 400 citizenship related requests a month.

“It’s certainly an increase in work, but the reason archives exist are to connect individuals who are seeking information with that information,” said Aiton Kerr.

“It’s the job, so we will cope.”

Widespread increase

The increase in requests from Americans looking for birth records can be seen in other provinces as well.

In 2024, the Nova Scotia Archives had received 262 “genealogical e-mail threads.” Through the first three months of this year, it’s already received 1,354.

Prince Edward Island’s Public Archives and Records Office has seen a 143 per cent increase in requests so far this year.

The Rooms in St. John’s, home to Newfoundland and Labrador’s archival records, has seen “a significant increase” in requests with the “majority of recent requests … coming from clients in the United States.”

It’s not just provincial archives that are seeing an increase in requests.

…Commitment or convenience

Not everyone is as much of a fan of the new Canadian citizenship laws.

Daniel Bernhard, the CEO for the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, said becoming a citizen is a “transformative and special moment for so many immigrants.”

“A citizenship ceremony is a really beautiful and moving and emotional testament to the joys of being part of the Canadian family,” he said.

But Bernhard is concerned about what the new laws will mean for the value of Canadian citizenship in the future.

He said citizenship has both rights and responsibilities and he’s concerned the new law could mean more Canadian citizens with limited connection to the country who could use the citizenship as an insurance policy.

“This now kind of creates a sort of second less emotionally resonant, less patriotic, less committed citizen who will hold on to Canadian citizenship in some other home country … just in case,” said Bernhard….

Source: Archives see surge in Americans requesting family records to access Canadian citizenship

Filed under C-3, Citizenship Tagged with ,

Proposition de Québec solidaire: La citoyenneté donnée aux résidents permanents en cas de souveraineté

2026/05/06 Leave a comment

Trying to attract the cultural communities vote:

« C’est une proposition qui vise à faire sentir les Québécois issus de l’immigration partie prenante du projet, et qui vise à les rassurer sur leur avenir dans un Québec indépendant », affirme le porte-parole de Québec solidaire (QS) Sol Zanetti.

La proposition pourrait même être élargie aux demandeurs d’asile et aux « orphelins du PEQ [Programme de l’expérience québécoise] » : ce sont les amendements qui seront débattus par les militants de Québec solidaire lors du congrès du parti qui aura lieu vendredi, samedi et dimanche à Montréal. S’ils vont de l’avant avec ces ajouts, combien de passeports québécois faudrait-il alors imprimer ? Ça n’a pas été évalué, admet M. Zanetti.

Mais selon lui, le mouvement souverainiste doit changer son message s’il veut espérer une victoire. Le député, qui a codirigé les deux éditions du Livre qui fait dire oui, « distribué à 45 000 exemplaires », organise depuis plusieurs années une tournée des cégeps pour promouvoir l’indépendance du Québec….

Source: Proposition de Québec solidaire La citoyenneté donnée aux résidents permanents en cas de souveraineté

“It is a proposal that aims to make Quebecers from immigration feel part of the project, and which aims to reassure them about their future in an independent Quebec,” says Québec solidaire (QS) spokesman Sol Zanetti.

The proposal could even be extended to asylum seekers and “orphans of the PEQ [Programme de l’expérience québécoise]”: these are the amendments that will be debated by Québec solidaire activists at the party congress that will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Montreal. If they go ahead with these additions, how many Quebec passports would then have to be printed? It has not been evaluated, admits Mr. Zanetti

But according to him, the sovereignist movement must change its message if it wants to hope for a victory. The deputy, who co-directed the two editions of the Livre qui fait dire oui, “distributed in 45,000 copies”, has been organizing for several years a CEGEP tour to promote Quebec’s independence….

Filed under Citizenship Tagged with ,

Ottawa to start tracking which temporary foreign residents have left Canada after permits run out

2026/05/06 2 Comments

Long overdue:

Ottawa is for the first time to track which foreign students and other temporary foreign residents have left the country after their permits to remain in Canada expire, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab told a committee of MPs on Monday. 

Economists have been warning for years that Canada has been dramatically undercounting the number of temporary residents living here by presuming that international students and others leave the country after their permits and visas run out. 

Ms. Diab said Monday the government is conducting a pilot program to track entries and exits by temporary residents, including international students, as part of an action plan to combat non-compliance. 

From this month, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will record if they are in the country or have left, IRCC deputy minister Ted Gallivan told MPs. He said the department has been collaborating with the Canada Border Services Agency on collecting entry and exit data. 

The initiative was disclosed at the Commons immigration committee, which was questioning the minister about a critique by Auditor-General Karen Hogan into the failure of Ms. Diab’s department to investigate suspected cases of study permit non-compliance and immigration fraud….

Source: Ottawa to start tracking which temporary foreign residents have left Canada after permits run out

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Though Rare, Birth Tourism to the United States Sparks Outsized Concern

2026/05/05 2 Comments

Appears to be a smaller percentage than in Canada based upon my and StatsCan analysis (about 0.5 to 0.7 percent of total births).

…Birth tourism is not a new phenomenon, yet the push and pull factors are poorly understood. Studies show that the promise of U.S. citizenship and related opportunities for the child, such as access to higher education, are among the motivating factors behind birth tourism. However, other factors, including access to advanced U.S. medical care as well as home-country policies, also play a significant role. For example, many Chinese mothers traveled to give birth in the United States while China’s one-child policy was in effect from 1980 to 2015 (children born outside of China were not covered by the policy).

Birth tourism presents a paradox for policymakers. The act of giving birth on U.S. soil by temporary visa holders is not illegal. However, applying for and securing a visa solely for the purpose of garnering U.S. citizenship for a child is both an act of fraud and grounds for inadmissibility. In addition to issues of visa fraud, birth tourism crosscuts with other concerns, including the prospect that businesses facilitating this travel misrepresent their profits and thereby commit tax evasion, and that these mothers will fail to pay the medical costs incurred during pregnancy and delivery.

There are no official estimates of the number of babies born as a product of birth tourism. However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers the closest approximation, using data on annual births. In 2024, the CDC reported almost 9,600 babies were born in the United States and U.S. territories to foreign mothers who listed their official address as outside the United States or its territories. While this may be interpreted as a proxy for babies born due to birth tourism, the number includes women who did not necessarily intend to have a baby in the United States, which is necessary under the current definition of birth tourism. Moreover, it excludes births to women who traveled to the United States with the intent to have a baby but who used a U.S. address to avoid scrutiny (this is a part of some business models promoting birth tourism). Even still, these babies were a miniscule fraction of all 3.7 million births in 2024, and the rate has remained steady over time (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Number of Babies Born in the United States to Foreign Residents and Share of All U.S. Births, 2016-24

Note: Figure shows the number of annual U.S. births to mothers listing their official address as outside the United States or its territories. This includes people who did not come to the United States specifically to have their baby, but not babies born to unauthorized immigrants or to temporary visitors using a U.S. address.
Sources: Data for 2016 are from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), User Guide to the 2016 Natality Public Use File (Atlanta: CDC, N.d.), available online; data from 2017 are from CDC, User Guide to the 2017 Natality Public Use File (Atlanta: CDC, N.d.), available online; data from 2018 are from CDC, User Guide to the 2018 Natality Public Use File (Atlanta: CDC, N.d.), available online; data from 2019 are from CDC, User Guide to the 2019 Natality Public Use File (Atlanta: CDC, N.d.), available online; data from 2020 are from CDC, User Guide to the 2020 Natality Public Use File (Atlanta: CDC, N.d.), available online; data from 2021 are from CDC, User Guide to the 2021 Natality Public Use File (Atlanta: CDC, N.d.), available online; data from 2022 are from CDC, User Guide to the 2022 Natality Public Use File (Atlanta: CDC, N.d.), available online; data from 2023 are from CDC, User Guide to the 2023 Natality Public Use File (Atlanta: CDC, N.d.), available online; data from 2024 are from CDC, User Guide to the 2024 Natality Public Use File (Atlanta: CDC, N.d.), available online.

Even the most expansive estimate that draw on analysis of government data finds birth tourism represents a tiny fraction of all U.S. births. The Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that advocates for low immigration, suggests the number of babies born as result of birth tourism ranges between 22,000 and 26,000 annually, though this estimate is contested….

Source: Though Rare, Birth Tourism to the United States Sparks Outsized Concern

Filed under Birth Tourism, Citizenship Tagged with ,

Nadeau | «Aucun, c’est déjà trop»

2026/05/05 Leave a comment

Valid to discuss specifics rather than generalities:

…« On ne peut pas accueillir toute la misère du monde » : cette formule qui sert à se laver les mains me lève le cœur. Elle déplace la question pour mieux noyer le poisson. Au lieu de discuter de situations réelles — de personnes précises, de risques précis, de décisions précises —, elle remplace le problème par une abstraction gigantesque. Et face à une abstraction gigantesque, il devient toujours possible de conclure qu’il n’y a rien à faire, que c’est trop gros. Ainsi, la discussion est close avant même d’avoir commencé.

Cette rhétorique dit en réalité moins quelque chose sur la misère du monde que sur notre propre étroitesse morale. Elle exprime jusqu’où nous sommes prêts à ne pas voir la souffrance d’autrui.

L’immigration n’est pas une condition historique figée. Il suffit de peu, dans l’histoire, pour devoir chercher refuge ailleurs. Du jour au lendemain, des sociétés entières peuvent s’y trouver poussées. Entre 1880 et 1930, près de 900 000 Canadiens français ont émigré aux États-Unis pour échapper à la misère. La frontière entre ceux qui accueillent et ceux qui arrivent n’est jamais aussi claire qu’on veut bien le croire. Ceux qui parlent aujourd’hui des migrants comme de pestiférés oublient parfois qu’on peut vite devenir l’« immigrant » de quelqu’un d’autre.

Source: Chronique | «Aucun, c’est déjà trop»

Funny how the translation program is so literal on the gender of “formula” rather than using it:

…” We cannot welcome all the misery of the world”: this formula that is used to wash your hands raises my heart. She shifts the question to better drown the fish. Instead of discussing real situations — specific people, specific risks, precise decisions — she replaces the problem with a gigantic abstraction. And in the face of a gigantic abstraction, it always becomes possible to conclude that there is nothing to do, that it is too big. Thus, the discussion is closed before it has even begun.

This rhetoric actually says less about the misery of the world than about our own moral narrowness. It expresses how far we are willing not to see the suffering of others.

Immigration is not a fixed historical condition. It takes little, in history, to have to look for refuge elsewhere. Overnight, entire societies can find themselves pushed there. Between 1880 and 1930, nearly 900,000 French Canadians emigrated to the United States to escape poverty. The border between those who welcome and those who arrive is never as clear as we would like to believe. Those who today speak of migrants as plague victims sometimes forget that you can quickly become someone else’s “immigrant”.

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Here’s why Canada needs to ditch age‑based immigration points

2026/05/05 Leave a comment

It was the point system that was established in the 60’s and the CRS is the updated version used in Express Entry that was launched in 2015. Sloppy not to note that in the article.

The CRS was based on extensive analysis of the various factors that contributed to the success of economic immigrants. Like all government programs, it has to discriminate or more accurately distinguish between the various factors to assess eligibility.

Age also is a factor with respect to the overall aging of the population. Are there any points that she would agree are good policy?:

Canada’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) was established in 1967 to respond to historic racism and nationality bias in Canada’s immigration system. Granting points for age, education, official language skills, Canadian work experience and family ties, the CRS ranks applicants for permanent residency.

The federal government recently proposed changes to CRS points, including the elimination of some point categories. While family-related points are proposed for removal, age-based criteria are not.

My research delves into the legal, ethical and policy reasons why Canada should ditch age-based immigration points….

Ageist immigration policies

Age discrimination embedded in the points system also contradicts Canadian values. Currently, a person gets zero points for age if they are under 18 or over 45.

Imagine the public outcry if a person received zero points for being a woman? Or for being a racialized person? Many Canadians would rightly call out such overtly sexist and racist policies. 

Similarly, points for age undermine the merit-based foundations of the CRS. They contradict rights-based hiring practices that prohibit asking candidates their age and stereotyping older workers.

My archival research suggests the architect of the CRS, then-Deputy Immigration Minister Tom Kent, did not have a clear policy rationale for the initial age-based points. One historianhas argued: “The points system, as it was originally conceived, has as much to do with politics as with labour markets.”

There is also some internal contradiction within the points system between the decreasing points for age and the increasing points for education and work experience. The latter rely on the passage of chronological time, while the former subtracts points for it.

Age-based points are bad policy

Policymakers and public commentators sometimes justify age discrimination in the points system by claiming that older immigrants are likely to take more from Canada than they are to give. But research shows that this is empirically incorrect.

First, Canadian and Québec pension plans are contributory — benefits are calculated by lifetime earnings in Canada. For Old Age Security, people must be residents of Canada for at least 10 years to qualify, and they must have resided here for at least 40 years to receive the maximum benefit. 

As a result, immigrants to Canada receive fewer contributions and are more likely to be poor than any other group of Canadians when they retire.

Second, while some may assume older immigrants will be a burden on the health-care system, the “healthy immigrant effect” is well-documented. 

Newcomers also tend to under-use health services. What’s more, there’s a waiting period for universal health coverage. Some immigrants actually return to their home countries to access time-sensitive or culturally appropriate care.

Source: Here’s why Canada needs to ditch age‑based immigration points

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Elkouri: La loi qui renforce l’absurdité

2026/05/05 Leave a comment

Indeed:

C’est ce que je me suis dit en prenant connaissance du tableau explicatif byzantin que le centre de services scolaire de Montréal a présenté cette semaine à son comité de parents qui voulait comprendre comment serait appliquée la loi 94 pour les parents et les élèves.

On se rappellera que cette loi adoptée dans la foulée du scandale de l’école Bedford ne fait pas qu’élargir l’interdiction de porter un signe religieux aux membres du personnel scolaire. Elle s’étend aussi aux parents bénévoles et à toute personne qui fournit régulièrement des services aux élèves.

Dans quels cas un signe religieux est-il autorisé ?

On apprend donc en consultant le tableau explicatif qu’un parent portant un signe religieux, c’est-à-dire en l’occurrence une mère voilée, pourrait préparer un gâteau pour une fête à l’école de ses enfants, mais ne pourrait pas servir elle-même ledit gâteau. Elle pourrait participer à l’organisation d’une sortie scolaire, mais elle ne pourrait pas y accompagner les enfants. Elle pourrait assister à un spectacle de fin d’année comme parent. Mais elle ne pourrait pas donner un coup de main durant le spectacle comme bénévole. Elle pourrait tricoter des mitaines pour la classe le soir, mais pas participer à un atelier de tricot à l’école le jour. Vous suivez la logique ?

La loi suscite son lot d’inquiétudes sur le terrain. Elle semble à bien des égards inapplicable. Comment des directions d’école qui ont déjà leur lot de défis quotidiens vont-elles gérer la chose ? Qui aura l’odieux d’annoncer à une mère enthousiaste et appréciée de tous qu’en raison de son signe religieux, elle peut continuer à être présente à l’école comme mère, mais plus comme bénévole ? …

Mais quel message envoie-t-on aux enfants quand on leur dit que certaines éducatrices, aussi compétentes et professionnelles soient-elles, et certaines mères, aussi impliquées soient-elles, sont désormais infréquentables par leur seule présence auprès des enfants, sans avoir commis aucune faute ? Si infréquentables qu’il faudrait ériger un « cordon sanitaire » entre elles et l’école de peur qu’elles contaminent l’esprit des enfants ?

Je suis désolée, mais le principal message que j’y vois est un message raciste et paternaliste qui a été normalisé ces dernières années. Un message qui tient pour acquis que ces femmes sont incapables de faire leurs propres choix et que l’on devrait donc choisir pour elles. Soumettez-vous à nous ou retournez à la maison, mesdames ! On fait ça pour votre bien, afin de favoriser l’égalité homme-femme… Parce qu’au Québec, c’est comme ça qu’on vit. Vraiment ?

Source: La loi qui renforce l’absurdité

This is what I thought to myself when I read the Byzantine explanatory table that the Montreal school service center presented this week to its parents’ committee who wanted to understand how Bill 94 would be applied to parents and students.

It will be remembered that this law passed in the wake of the Bedford School scandal does not only extend the ban on wearing a religious sign to members of school staff. It also extends to volunteer parents and anyone who regularly provides services to students.

In which cases is a religious sign allowed?

We therefore learn by consulting the explanatory table that a parent wearing a religious sign, that is to say in this case a veiled mother, could prepare a cake for a party at her children’s school, but could not serve said cake herself. She could participate in the organization of a school trip, but she could not accompany the children. She could attend an end-of-year show as a parent. But she couldn’t help out during the show as a volunteer. She could knit mittens for the class in the evening, but not participate in a knitting workshop at school during the day. Do you follow the logic?

The law raises its share of concerns on the ground. It seems in many ways inapplicable. How will school principals who already have their share of daily challenges handle this? Who will have the hate to announce to an enthusiastic and appreciated mother that because of her religious sign, she can continue to be present at school as a mother, but no longer as a volunteer? …

But what message do we send to children when we tell them that some educators, no matter how competent and professional they are, and some mothers, no matter how involved they are, are now infrequent by their sole presence with the children, without having committed any fault? So infrequent that a “sanitary cordon” should be erected between them and the school for fear that they contaminate the minds of children?

I’m sorry, but the main message I see in it is a racist and paternalistic message that has been normalized in recent years. A message that takes for granted that these women are unable to make their own choices and that we should therefore choose for them. Submit to us or return home, ladies! We do this for your good, to promote gender equality… Because in Quebec, that’s how we live. Really?

Filed under Interculturalisme, Laïcité, Multiculturalism Tagged with , ,

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