CIMM – International Students and Housing – February 28, 2024
Key Facts and Figures
Canada is experiencing unprecedented housing pressures, which requires collaboration between all levels of government, including provinces, territories and municipalities and the private sector to address the underlying issues and ensure that Canadians and newcomers have access to housing.
The Government of Canada is committed to better managing the volume of temporary residents. This includes making changes to the International Student Program to address growth, while incentivizing educational institutions to provide better supports to international students, including access to safe and affordable housing.
Key Messages
I am aware that while international students contribute significant cultural, social and economic benefits to their communities, they have also experienced serious challenges, such as finding adequate housing, as they pursue their studies in Canada.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is working with federal partners to develop a whole-of-government approach to immigration levels planning, with a particular focus on Canada’s infrastructure and housing capacity.
Let me be clear- international students are not to blame for the housing crisis. Introducing a cap aims to alleviate pressures on housing, health care and other services, particularly in communities with a high concentration of students.
Supplementary Information
Immigration Planning
The Strategic Immigration Review report announced a commitment to a broader approach to immigration levels planning to better align with investment in housing, among other areas.
Facilitative pathways for construction workers
While population growth through immigration increases demand for housing, it also contributes to addressing labour market needs.
Express Entry: Category based selection was launched in June 2023. Between June and December 2023, two trades rounds have invited 2,500 candidates with work experience in in-demand trade occupations to apply for permanent residence. These category-specific rounds of invitations have significantly increased the total number of invitations to candidates with experience in trade occupations expected to be in long-term shortage, from 807 invitations in 2022 to 4,091 in 2023.
Temporary Foreign Workers: In 2023, IRCC issued 24,500 work permits to foreign workers destined to work in construction sector occupations, with the majority coming under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
Provincial Nominee Programs: IRCC supports provinces and territories in developing targeted initiatives to fill critical labour market needs in the construction sector to support housing development. For instance, Nova Scotia recently launched the Critical Construction Worker Pilot.
Global Skills Missions: IRCC will organize global skills missions in collaboration with government representatives, employers and stakeholders, to recruit the talent Canada needs.
Immigrants in all classes, including economic, family and refugee/humanitarian programs, play an important role in helping address Canada’s labour market shortages, including in construction related occupations.
Housing for Asylum Claimants
Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP)
Through the IHAP, the federal government provides funding to provincial and municipal governments, on a cost-sharing basis, to address extraordinary interim housing pressures resulting from increased volumes of asylum claimants.
In January 2024, the Government announced an additional $362.4M in funding for IHAP as part of the 2023-2024 fiscal year. This is in addition to the $212M announced in July 2023.
To date, the Government has provided almost $750M to provinces and municipalities to address extraordinary housing pressures related to the increased volumes of asylum claimants since 2017.
Temporary accommodations
IRCC has also been providing temporary accommodations via hotels in several municipalities across Canada since 2020 to meet COVID-19 public health requirements. Beginning in November 2021, these temporary accommodations served to backstop Quebec’s shelter capacity for irregular arrivals claiming asylum.
Following Quebec’s announcement in February 2023 that it had reached its capacity to support new arrivals, IRCC began transferring irregular arrivals out of Quebec to Ontario and Atlantic Canada.