University of Calgary grad students facing 'uncertainty' after recent immigration changes

Move to curb immigration creates uncertainty Canada is curbing immigration targets to slow population growth, and foreign grad students say it's causing a lot of uncertainty.

International graduate students at the University of Calgary say recent changes to the cap on international students, along with more cuts to Canada's immigration targets, is causing uncertainty -- and could drive talent away from the country.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada would slash its immigration targets over the next three years and admitted the federal government "didn't get the balance quite right" in setting a target of 500,000 new permanent residents in both 2025 and 2026.

"This builds on our previously announced measures to cap international student permits and reform the Temporary Foreign Worker program, all of which we are implementing with a single aim stabilize our population growth to give all levels of government time to catch up," Trudeau said Thursday.

Next year's overall target for permanent residents will be now be 395,000, falling to 380,000 in 2026.

Rules change for international student study permits

This week's announcement comes just over a month after Ottawa changed its rules around international student study permits and post-grad work permits. The federal government reduced its target for international student permits to 437,000 until 2026 and removed the exemption for graduate students against the cap.

Among the changes that will impact international students joining master's, doctoral and postdoctoral programs are new language proficiency requirements, limits on work eligibility for spouses of foreign students and post-graduate work must be in high-demand fields.

The government is also reducing the number of temporary residents allowed in Canada from 6.5 per cent of Canada's total population to five per cent.

"When I heard the news, I felt a lot of fear and uncertainty about my own future here," said Alex Poppendorf, an international student from the United States who is PhD candidate in Educational Leadership.

"Now that I'm putting down roots -- I've fallen in love here, I found community here, I'd like to have a family here and a job here -- but these changes, which are changing, it feels like every day, throws all of that into uncertainty," she said.

Poppendorf, who is also the Vice President Academic at UCalgary's Graduate Students' Association, said her fears are shared by many of the 7,000 international students at the post-secondary institution.

Ottawa has announced the sweeping changes to immigration in an effort to slow population growth and help address housing availability and affordability issues, the government said.

"You can't take a sledgehammer to fix what needs to be done with a scalpel. And I feel like I'm being sledge hammered rather than attended to as a human being who is contributing greatly to the economy," Poppendorf added.

Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller previously acknowledged graduate students are "better prepared" and equipped for Canada's job market, especially in specialized fields. Twelve per cent of international student visas will be reserved for students in master's and PhD programs.

Nadia Ghazanfari holds a PhD in Translation Studies and is studying for her master's in Communications and Media Studies at UCalgary. She came from Iran to study in Canada and lives here with her son and husband, but says the recent changes have her feeling "a little bit of regret" and uncertainty about the future.

"When I came to Canada, it was with a specific plan that I'm going to go and do this education... and then I get the international work experience that I wanted to get in this field as it's not offered in my home country, and then return to my country with this sufficient academic and also work experience," she said.

Now, due to the changes in post-grad work requirements and study permit reductions, she isn't so sure.

"That's really hard to plan a future, especially as lots of these students, they're coming here to Canada with their families," Ghazanfari said.

It could also force students who are considering grad school to no longer consider Canada, she said, leading to needed talent going elsewhere.

"Canada is competing against the US, the UK and also Australia. So, I think these changing policies might greatly impact, not only the Canadian economy, but also the Canadian academic system," she said.