Canada reported a housing shortage, indirectly blaming international students for the same. Concerning the escalating demand for housing and the corresponding decline in supply, the stakeholders hold divergent opinions. However, recently, to deal with the housing crisis, the Canadian government announced the first-ever cap on international students to resolve this issue.
According to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the rapid increase in the number of international students puts pressure on housing, healthcare, and other services. As a result, Ottawa decided to cap the number of foreign students for the next two years. Moreover, the number of international students in Canada is anticipated to be fewer than 210,000, including those pursuing Master’s degrees and PhDs.
The government continues to mention that international students are the real challenge for the housing crisis; on the other hand, experts have different views. However, the reports say that affordability is the biggest reason for the housing shortage in Canada. According to the reports, there is a 6.3 percent increase in the average price of a home in the country compared to July 2022. Perhaps the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) showed that higher residential construction prices have increased, leading to the housing crisis. However, besides the housing market, the government holds the view that international students have also posed pressure on healthcare and other service sectors.
Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, expects that the implementation of new regulations will benefit international students. Further emphasising that the implementation of new regulations will eradicate “bad actors” from the market, students will be safeguarded against substandard services that come at excessive prices. There were more than 700 fake admission letters investigated last summer. The government states that eliminating the bad actors in the play is the only way to lower the number of fake admission letters.
