50,000 int’l students enrolled in Canadian institutions but failed to show in class

A report in January this year showed that nearly 50,000 international students did not register at their designated institutions after arriving in Canada in March and April 2024. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada which provided this data, highlighted that these non-enrolled students represent 6.9 per cent of the 717,539 international students being monitored at the time.

The Canadian government has therefore urged higher education institutions to diversify their international student intake beyond India, which currently receives the highest number of study permits.

Last year, 20,000 students from India did not show up in their enrolled schools while the number was 3,902 for students from Nigeria. Additionally, 2,712 Ghanaian students were among those unaccounted for.

Conversely, 89.8 per cent (644,349 students) were confirmed as enrolled, while the enrollment status of 23,514 students remained unrecorded. It is reported that some of these students are working in low-paying jobs to support themselves, while others have fallen victim to fraudulent educational institutions.

The Canadian government’s call for diversification aims to address these issues and ensure a more balanced and secure international student intake.

“Universities and colleges need to put a little more effort into the price of acquisition and invest more in the talent that you’re bringing here, and that includes going to more countries and expanding your resources,” said Marc Miller, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

“I would say universities and colleges have been going to one or two source countries and constantly going back to the well on that, and we expect the diversity of students,” he added. Miller also clarified that Canada would not be adopting the exact approach of President Donald Trump regarding undocumented immigrants.

However, he warned that students without legal status, including those with expiring post-graduate work permits (PGWPs), must leave the country. “If you are here in an irregular fashion and don’t have a right to stay, you need to leave or you will be removed,” he stated.

Between 2010 and 2019, international student numbers in Canada more than doubled, surpassing 640,000. The numbers exceeded one million subsequently after the pandemic as Canada actively sought to attract foreign talent.

As it is now, the increased pressure on housing, healthcare, and public services has made the government tighten immigration policies. This led to In January 2024, Canada introducing new measures in January 2024 on caps on study permits and restrictions on PGWPs.