TORONTO, January 26, 2024 – “Ontario university presidents expressed deep concern over the future of our province’s international students at a meeting yesterday.
The federal government’s unilateral decision to immediately cap international student visa permits, and suspend applications until a provincial attestation process is in place, has put the futures of international university applicants on hold. These students are now facing months of stress and uncertainty.
The announcement and implementation of the suspension policy on the same day, without consultation with the sector and the provincial government, means weeks or even months of confusion.
That is why we are calling for an immediate pause of the provincial attestation letter requirement until guidelines have clearly been established.
Without clear guidelines in place, this means:
- Ontario risks losing the opportunity to attract the best and brightest international students, damaging the province’s global reputation on the world stage.
- Ontario risks limiting its ability to fill in-demand jobs, like the nurses, doctors, engineers and teachers the province and its communities desperately need.
- Ontario risks further deteriorating the financial health of its public universities, impacting the student experience and the province’s future workforce.
Even before the federal government announced the cap, Ontario’s universities were already at a breaking point.
At least 10 universities are projecting operating deficits after a 10 per cent tuition cut in 2019, four years of a tuition freeze and declining real per-student operating funding. This decision is only exacerbating the financial challenges universities face that will lead to reductions in student programs and support services.
We are immediately calling on the federal government to take a much more targeted approach to address the issue, while pausing the provincial attestation requirement in the interim.
Ontario’s universities are also calling on the provincial government to urgently implement the Blue-Ribbon Panel recommendation to boost operating funding and ending the cut and freeze to tuition, while protecting low income students.
Investing in universities is investing in students and our future.”
– Steve Orsini, President and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities