As per Canada‘s statistical office, there is a change in the country’s method of counting non-permanent residents, including international students. This decision was made after the economists raised concern that the current method is faulty, as nearly one million international students and others haven’t been accounted for in the reports.
Overall, the changes are the result of the housing crisis in the country, as reported by Canadian Housing Minister Sean Fraser. Last month, Fraser told reporters, “I think that is one of the options that we ought to consider, but I think we should start by trying to partner with institutions to understand what role they may play to reduce the pressure on the communities that they are operating within”.
Due to these comments, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced criticism for facing a housing shortage.
According to the reports, CIBC Capital Markets revealed that the new method will be more accurate in gathering information about non-permanent residents in Canada. The reports claim that Canada has become the most preferred destination for international students. Further, 25 percent of the individuals from the survey involving 20,000 respondents found that Canada is their top choice out of the UK, the US, and Australia.
Students prefer Canada since 64 percent feel that there are more work opportunities in Canada after studying. On the other hand, 72 percent think the Canadian labour market is easily accessible after studying it.
International students in Canada are permitted to work up to 20 hours per week during regular semesters; in addition, during the summer, winter, and spring breaks, students can work for more than 20 hours per week. However, last year, to address the labour shortage, the government planned to lift the cap on the number of working hours. International students were allowed to work off-campus.