Why Canada needs a regional approach to its International Student Program
It was about two years ago that I first wrote about the profound positive impact Cape Breton University’s (CBU) recruitment and retention of international students and their families had on Cape Breton Island. Now, the University and Island stand at another crossroads: addressing the challenges imposed by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) policy shifts that have devastated international education in Canada, especially our rural public institutions like Cape Breton University.
The International Student Program is crucial for the immediate and long-term sustainability of smaller communities in Canada. Demographically, over 25% of Nova Scotia’s population will be 65+ by 2030, the median age in Cape Breton is 10 years older than Canada’s (50.4 vs. 40.9), there is a decline in the youth population, and the natural population growth (births minus deaths) is negative across the country, Nova Scotia included. Cape Breton Island’s population declined more than 25% from 1975 to 2019, when we began to finally grow again due to international student enrolment and retention at CBU. It is essential that we continue to attract new talent to our shores, and there are few better newcomers than international students, who are young, motivated, entrepreneurial, and will be equipped with a Canadian public university education from Cape Breton University.
It is of paramount importance that IRCC employ a regional approach to the International Student Program in Canada. Our country is a vast federation and different regions have different needs regarding labour force and immigration demands. At CBU, we strive to align our programming with local trends, including programs focused on healthcare, AI and analytics, community economic development, hospitality and tourism management, STEM fields, among many other outstanding degree options.
Here, international students are not straining the system, they are sustaining it
With the IRCC cap on international students reducing approvals by 35% nationwide (though data shows the reduction was closer to 48%), the affects on CBU have led to a dramatic reduction of our international student numbers, leading to multimillion-dollar deficits and threatening the momentum of growth that had only just begun. International students contribute over $300 million annually to the local economy, which includes spending on housing, food, transportation, and services, supporting countless local businesses and jobs. Students fill critical gaps in the workforce, from retail and hospitality to healthcare and public services. Fewer students mean fewer workers in sectors already facing shortages.
Under the direction of President David Dingwall and CBU leadership, along with government support, we have invested over $250 million in campus infrastructure and revitalisation. This year, we welcomed our first cohort of medical students at the Cape Breton Medical Campus. We have built and opened the new Nancy Dingwall Health and Counselling Centre and Newcomer Primary Care Clinic, opened the refurbished Kehoe Forum which is Canada’s Home for Women’s Hockey, completed a $1.4 million residence renovation, broke ground on the Centre for Discovery and Innovation, and announced a new 104-space early learning and child-care centre.
You only have to walk down Charlotte Street in Sydney to see the impact international students have on our communities in Cape Breton. The restaurants, shops, grocers, artists, and more that thrive on our wee island over the past few years bring me immense joy. One of my grade school daughter’s best friends moved to Cape Breton from Lagos, Nigeria, because her mum studied at CBU. I didn’t experience this level of diversity growing up in small town Cape Breton. This is why I do this work. We must ensure that my daughter and her younger sister get to experience a thriving and diverse community, and to do so, IRCC must update policies to reflect regional differences. The Atlantic provinces and other rural areas need to continue to welcome international students not only for the sake of public institutions like CBU, but for our communities.
The international student cap was designed to address national concerns, such as housing pressures in major urban centres. But Cape Breton is not Toronto or Vancouver. Here, international students are not straining the system, they are sustaining it. Cape Breton has come too far to turn back now.
About the author: Victor leads an experienced team of international education professionals who have been instrumental in achieving CBU’s strategic enrolment management goals. Through growing international student recruitment, CBU has created significant cultural and economic impacts for the region. Working alongside colleagues across campus, Victor helps create services ideally suited to serve international learners and contributes to enrolment initiatives that meet the needs of a growing and diverse student body. Victor is a native of Cape Breton and a double graduate of Cape Breton University, having received a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) and an MBA (Community Economic Development). He is immensely passionate about Cape Breton Island and takes great pride in introducing the world to its beauty and culture, and the incredible learning opportunities available at Cape Breton University.
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