Ottawa: One of the key objectives of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's new cabinet is to handle the escalating housing crisis, thus the Canadian government is thinking about putting a limit on the number of overseas students.
According to government statistics, the nation hosted more than 8,00,000 foreign students in 2018. Of the 5,49,570 study licences issued in 2022, 2,26,000 would be issued to Indian citizens. On being asked whether a cap could be imposed on international students, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Sean Fraser said: "I think that's one of the options that we ought to consider. The government has not yet made a decision... I think we need to do some serious thinking here," Fraser told reporters.
Fraser, who once served as the nation's minister of immigration, also targeted organisations for allegedly abusing students and escalating the housing problem, according to News. "When you see some of these institutions that have five, six times as many students enrolled as they have spaces for them in the building, you've got to start to ask yourself some pretty tough questions," the minister said.
"There are good private institutions out there and separating the wheat from the chaff is going to be a big focus of the work that I tried to do with Miller (Immigration Minister Marc Miller)." According to media, Fraser said he plans to sit down with some of these institutions to find out ways to make it easier to find living space for those students in a tight rental market.