Canada's international student spike was blamed on private colleges. Here's what really happened

Documents obtained by CBC News reveal which colleges and universities account for the greatest share Canada’s steep growth in international students, and which have the most to lose from a new cap on permits to study in this country.Students stage a walkout to protest the rising costs of international students' tuition at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, B.C. in December 2022.

The data also shines a light on what experts say was really driving Canada's dramatic rise in foreign student enrolment: Governments of all stripes actively pursuing international students both to shore up the skilled workforce and to bring hefty revenues into underfunded colleges and universities, with little regard for the ensuing demand for housing.

The growth in Ontario in recent years has been "explosive and reckless," said Earl Blaney, an immigration consultant and advocate for international students in London, Ont."I'm shocked that it's got to this state," Blaney said after CBC News showed him the data. "The problem is everyone else has been clapping along, because everyone's making a ton of money off this.

At a news conference last week, Ford was asked about his government's plans regarding international students. "What was not foreseeable is the fact that the government would do nothing about it during that period, despite the fact that they were well aware that this was going on." On Monday, the government of Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a $1.3-billion boost to post-secondary, spread over three years — short of the $2.5 billion increase recommended by his government’s own panel of experts in November, before the cut to international student permits was imposed.

More than 30,000 international students were granted study permits in 2023 to attend Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ont., more than any other post-secondary institution in Canada. Conestoga topped the national list in four of the past five years. "Senior levels of government – federal and provincial – have spoken numerous times publicly about the lack of skilled workers now and projected into the future and how immigration is absolutely essential to filling those gaps," said Daniel Lessard, manager of communications for Cambrian College, whose main campus is in Sudbury, Ont.

In each of the last three years, the national top 10 list of schools with the most international study permits included eight Ontario public colleges.

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