Hon. Ginette Petitpas-Taylor
Minister of Veterans Affairs
Member of Parliament for Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
Via email : Ginette.PetitpasTaylor@parl.gc.ca
Hon. Dominic LeBlanc
Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions, and Intergovernmental Affairs
Member of Parliament for Beauséjour
Via email : dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca
January 29th, 2024
Ministers Petitpas-Taylor and LeBlanc,
This joint letter is submitted to you on behalf of several stakeholders in the Greater Moncton area, who are concerned about the impact on our post-secondary education system and our community as a result of your governmentâs recent decision to impose a cap on international student visas.
This group of stakeholders includes representatives from both public and private post-secondary institutions, local government, not-for-profit agencies, and the business community. Together, we share a common fear that this decision will negatively impact our ability to attract international students, and to retain them post-graduation.
A quick survey of seven local public and private post-secondary institutions reveals that close to 4,000 international students are currently studying in the Greater Moncton area. We do not know the reduced number of visas for New Brunswick, or for Greater Moncton, but taking the 35 per cent announced as a guide could mean as many as 1,400 students lost to our community.
While we acknowledge the governmentâs decision was based on two factors â to deal with institutional abuse by public and private schools in Ontario and larger provinces, who have misused international student visas, and to help ease the strain on our housing market — we believe the remedy the federal government has dispensed amounts to a blunt instrument that does not consider our regional needs.
International students have increasingly filled jobs in our tight labour market. The Moncton CMA is experiencing full employment, and international students â both during school and after graduation â are an essential group of highly-skilled and educated workers. In fact, a recent study by David Campbell, economist and consultant, shows 52 per cent of immigrants in the Moncton CMA have a university or college education, compared to 26 per cent of the non-immigrant population. As well, the non-immigrant workforce declined between 2016 and 2021 by 885 workers, while the immigrant (including international student) workforce rose by 6,310. Without immigrants and international students, our workforce would be in decline. Many employers have already shared with us their concerns about the impact this international student cap will have on their short term and long-term operations.
International students also contribute to the economic growth of our community. A recent study suggests each international student contributes an average of $30,000 per year via housing, tuition, food, and other necessities.
A crucial element to international student intake in New Brunswick is the priority to encourage francophone immigration. Both Université de Moncton and CollÚge Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB) attract hundreds of students annually, largely from francophone countries. Our Greater Moncton Local Immigration Strategy has a clear goal of 33 per cent francophone immigration.
Just last week, in Caraquet, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller unveiled details on how the federal government will use $137 million of the 2023-2028 Action Plan for Official Languages to entice a higher intake of francophone immigration. We question how this announcement â and Minister Millerâs other recent decision to waive the 20-hour-a-week limit on international students in the workforce â aligns with this weekâs international student visa reduction.
All these wider community concerns are in addition to the already felt impacts within the post-secondary education system in New Brunswick. If there are fewer international students paying higher tuition, will this mean higher tuition for Canadian-born students? How are both public and private post-secondary institutions to continue international student recruitment and plan their 2024-2025 budgets without knowing the number of international students they will be allowed to enroll?
We respectfully suggest the federal government revisit this decision and base its response on these factors:
- If there are private or public educational institutions who are misusing the international student visa program, correct the issue with them directly. Target dubious post-secondary institutions by audits. Do not penalize New Brunswick institutions that have enviable records of student attraction, integration, and community placement.
- If this decision is related to the lack of housing, use existing federal housing dollars in collaboration with provinces and municipalities to increase the supply. Advocate for lower interest and borrowing rates; speed up the process to approve Housing Accelerator Fund applications. Solving one problem by creating another is not good public policy.
- Do not rush to judgment on determining the 2025 international student numbers.
The signatories to this letter appreciate that both of you understand the importance international students and immigration in general have played in the growth of Southeastern New Brunswick. We are the fastest-growing CMA in the country and our number of permanent residents welcomed in 2022-2023 was 30 per cent higher than the most ambitious targets in our Greater Moncton Immigration Strategy.
We need your governmentâs continued support to keep our community growing. By leveraging the great work of our local public and private post-secondary institutions to attract, integrate and place international students, we can achieve that.
We are building an inclusive multicultural community; please use government policy to help us achieve that.
Sincerely,
John Wishart, CEO, The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton
Dawn Arnold, Mayor, City of Moncton
Emilie HachĂ©, Directrice aux Services dâImmigration, Ville de Dieppe
Shanel Akerley, Economic Development Manager, Town of Riverview
Ronald Gaudet, Chief Strategy Officer, MAGMA
David Campbell, President, Jupia Consultants Inc.
Denis Prudâhomme, Recteur, UniversitĂ© de Moncton
Bruce G. Fawcett, President and Vice Chancellor, Crandall University
Darcie Reidpath, President, Oulton College
Dale Ritchie, President, Mckenzie College, Mckenzie Language Learning Centre