Thousands of international students miss fall semester amid uncertainty, visa delays

Seems to be more an issue for colleges than universities given examples cited:

…Brian-Paul Welsh, an immigration consultant at Northern Education Consultants, agreed with the school officials that there are two main factors at play – foreign students rethinking their destinations and “significant” visa delays.

Welsh said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada had previously come under fire for not reviewing visa applications as carefully as it should have.

That has changed recently, and now every application is being reviewed “quite thoroughly to ensure that they meet the criteria before they give them a successful decision,” he said.

Another layer of bureaucracy could be adding to the time it takes, he said. Ottawa announced in January it would require provinces to issue attestation letters for international students, without which students couldn’t apply for a visa.

Still, Welsh said the larger issue may be the federal government’s policy direction.

Students may be holding back while they wait and see whether the possibility of becoming a permanent resident after their studies is still in the cards, he said.

“The potential benefits might not outweigh what they know it would actually cost,” he said.

Source: Thousands of international students miss fall semester amid uncertainty, visa delays