Douglas Todd: Canada’s foreign-student policy needs public review, say experts
2021/01/23 Leave a comment
Noteworthy from who the call is coming from, the generally pro-immigration experts. Royal commissions appear to have fallen out of favour given the time involved but nevertheless Canada benefits from those more in-depth reviews:
The public is in the dark about how Canadian immigration policy has been changed to give preference to international students, say experts.
Ottawa should set up a royal commission to look into issues such as whether Canadians agree that foreign students, who tend to come from the “cream of the crop” in their homelands, should go to the front of the line for permanent residence status, says Chris Friesen, who chairs the umbrella body overseeing settlement services in Canada.
Most Canadians have no idea that roughly one in three people approved each year as immigrants — especially during COVID-19-battered 2020 — were already living in the country as either foreign students or temporary workers, says Friesen, who also directs the Immigrant Services Society of B.C., which has provided support to tens of thousands of newcomers.
Source: Douglas Todd: Canada’s foreign-student policy needs public review, say experts