Kanchi Uttamchandani | Assistant News Editor
Featured illustration: International students are eager for changes in express entry point system. | Photo courtesy of Jasmine Wiradharma
International students will find it easier to apply for Canadian residency under immigration reforms proposed by the federal government.
“International students are among the most promising group of immigrants—they are young, can speak English or French and know about Canada. So, we’re going to give them more points under express entry and make it easier for them to become permanent residents,” said Immigration Minister John McCallum in a recent town hall address in Brampton.
McCallum hinted earlier this year at reforms to address international students being short-changed under the current express entry system in discussions between the provincial and federal governments.
“Acknowledgement of the current system’s defects is a big leap toward making healthier policies in the future. Now we can plan about our future in a more rational and parameterized way,” says fourth-year space science student Gurpreet Singh.
Fourth-year international development studies student Hiranya Nakandala concurs.
“I am quite pleased to know that immigration and certain government officials are acknowledging the fact that more international students come into Canada knowing not only fluent English but also French,” she says.
Nakandala adds that international students tend to be well-versed in Canadian history, geography and architecture.
While the decision has been well received by the international student community at York, concerns about precarious employment and deregulated international fees continue to prevail.
“I hope that in the coming years, Canadian immigration policy will […] offer better employment opportunities on campus such as work/study positions, which are currently only offered to permanent residence holders and citizens,” says Nakandala.
“While this is definitely a very positive signal from the Canadian government, I would like to see how these new changes are able to adapt to the insanely high volume of both pending and new applications for permanent residency,” says fourth-year actuarial science student Anshul Arora.
Arora says the new laws will make the express entry pool more competitive. “I know people who graduated from universities in Ontario but migrated to another province to get their permanent residency, since the points system in specific provinces is comparatively more relaxed,” he adds.
Canada’s International Education Strategy aims to boost international student enrolment to over 450,000 by 2022 and generate approximately $910 million in new tax revenues.
As of February 2016, there are a total of 6,573 international students enroled at York.
