Breadcrumb Trail Links
This country’s future relies on its ability to attract the world’s best and brightest, and our higher education system plays an important part in this.
Author of the article:
Sasha Ramani 
Justin Trudeau, Jagmeet Singh and Erin O’Toole all share the same broad view of the importance of immigration to building and sustaining Canada’s skilled workforce. Photo by POOL /REUTERS
Article content
With Canada’s 44th Parliament preparing to sit, the most unwanted and insubstantial election in decades is finally behind us. The campaign was an exercise in futility: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau failed to convince voters that his COVID-19 response deserved or necessitated a majority government, while the opposition parties failed to convince Canadians that they would be better stewards of Canada’s transition to a post-pandemic society.
Advertisement
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
But the election was a useful reminder that on certain issues the parties stand united, including on the importance of immigration and welcoming international students. This will only become more important when Canada and much of the world emerge from the worst of the pandemic.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of students from around the world come to Canada to pursue their studies. Over the last 20 years, the number of international students studying here has tripled to nearly 600,000, divided between universities, colleges and primary/secondary education. These students do more than bring new ideas and fresh thinking; they also contribute $24 billion to the economy and subsidize tuition for Canadian citizens. This was a well-oiled machine until COVID threw a wrench into it.
Advertisement
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
International enrolment in Canadian institutions fell nearly 17 per cent in 2020. This decline, however temporary, does not bode well. Canada’s population and economic growth depends on its ability to attract and retain promising students from around the world. Indeed, Canadians have long valued our merit-based immigration system, which prioritized those who have a Canadian education or have skills that the Canadian economy needs. This has made our immigration system the envy of the world and has helped provide a pipeline of essential workers in critical industries such as health care.
Fortunately, Trudeau has made several pledges to address this. The Liberal platform promised to expand foreign credential recognition and pathways to permanent residency to international students, thus opening the door to more doctors, dentists, technologists and innovators. The Liberals also pledged to clear the COVID-related backlog related to family reunification. Trudeau also said that he would establish Canada as a safe haven for human rights defenders and others worldwide fleeing persecution – for example, by raising the number of resettled Afghans from 20,000 to 40,000.
Advertisement
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
These laudable goals are mostly shared by the other parties too. The Conservatives pledged to “welcome the best and brightest from around the world” and, like the Liberals, promised to expand foreign credential recognition and create new pathways to permanent residence for international students while expediting processing and addressing administrative backlogs. But the Tories go further on refugee and asylum policy. They would make permanent the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Project, which supports LGBTQ+ refugees from unsafe countries. They advocated for a program to encourage young people from Hong Kong to study in Canada, and to assist those from Hong Kong seeking asylum in Canada.
The NDP would double-down on making sure that Canadian immigration policies meet labour force needs — which tends to mean health care workers and others with in-demand skills. Their platform called for clearing the backlog of asylum and refugee claims, and for working with Canadians to resettle refugees through private sponsorships. They pledged to “stand with” asylum seekers from Hong Kong and to better regulate Canadian immigration consultants to eliminate less scrupulous actors.
Advertisement
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
There’s little daylight between the platforms, suggesting an opportunity for the parties to collaborate on a post-pandemic policy around immigration and international education. Canada’s future relies on its ability to attract the world’s best and the brightest, and its higher education system plays an important part in this by training high-promise students from around the world to suit the needs of the Canadian economy. While the Liberals, Conservatives, and NDP all realize this, there are legitimate policy questions around the details, which is why the House of Commons Citizenship and Immigration Committee should address these questions once Parliament reconvenes.
Canada’s strategic immigration system is more than a reflection of Canadians’ warm-heartedness and welcoming attitude; it is positively Machiavellian and is vital to Canada’s post-pandemic success. If the 2021 election confirmed this, then perhaps it wasn’t so pointless after all.
Mississauga-based Sasha Ramani leads corporate strategy for MPOWER Financing, a company that aims to make access to education borderless. @sasha_ramani
Share this article in your social network
Advertisement
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Ottawa Citizen Headline News will soon be in your inbox.
We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
