The province’s minister responsible for immigration believes a cap on international students might actually benefit this province.
The federal government has capped the number of student visas issued this year at 364,000—a 35 per cent drop from the 560,000 issued last year.
(Immigration Minister Marc Miller. Photo via CPAC)
Minister Gerry Byrne says rather than hurt NL’s immigration efforts, the cut may actually benefit the province.
He says international students contribute about $150 million a year to the province’s GDP.
Byrne says the problem lies with fake institutions luring international students to the country and charging “exorbitant fees” with the promise of trying to get them permanent residence.
That, says Byrne. is the issue that the federal government is trying to address, but it’s not a problem here.
(Photo via Memorial University.)
Byrne says he’s dug into the numbers and from what he can tell, Newfoundland and Labrador may actually see its number of student visa approvals increase from the current 3,000 a year to 4,200 or even as high as 4,800 depending on the calculation the federal government uses.
“This is very significant,” says Byrne. “This is something that would be good for Newfoundland and Labrador to get that bump-up.”
