Ontario mandates foreign student housing assurance

Ontario, the most populous province in Canada and home to half the country’s foreign students, will require all colleges and universities to guarantee housing is available for incoming cohorts.

The move followed a cap on international student’s visas imposed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government earlier this week, which was aimed at quelling public anger over a surge in temporary migrants that pushed up rents and housing prices.

New provincial measures also include a review of programs offered by institutions that have a “sizable amount” of foreign students to ensure that they meet labor market demands, according to a statement on Friday from Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges and Universities.

“The challenges stemming from the recent spike in students coming to Canada, including predatory practices by bad-actor recruiters, misinformation regarding citizenship and permanent residency, false promises of guaranteed employment, and inadequate housing for students, require immediate attention and collaborative action,” said Jill Dunlop, colleges and universities minister.

The province will also ban new partnerships between public and private colleges, which were seen as a key factor behind the threefold increase in foreign students over the past decade. Many of these students use education to gain post-graduate work permits and eventual permanent residency.

Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller has demanded that provinces take stronger action to curtail exploitation of foreign students. Provinces are primarily responsible for funding post-secondary schools and classifying them as designated learning institutions.

The government of British Columbia, another popular destination for foreign students, is expected to announce its measures next week.

Universities and colleges have increasingly relied on international students — who pay an average of five times as much as Canadians in tuition — to supplement government funding. Ontario has also frozen tuition fees that can be charged to Canadians in recent years.