CIMM – International Student Compliance Regime – June 14, 2023

Date: 2023-06-10
Classification: Unclassified
Department: IRCC

Issue:

CIMM Ministerial appearance on the Exploitation Scheme Targeting Certain International Students

IRCC has implemented an international student compliance regime as an integrity tool to identify potentially non-genuine students and to gather additional data and trends on international students in Canada.
All provinces and territories, except Quebec, participate in twice-yearly compliance reporting exercises where designated learning institutions (DLIs) report on the enrollment status of their international students to IRCC.
Data from these reporting exercises is critical to monitoring the success of the international student program and helps us ensure students are successfully pursuing their studies.
IRCC also uses this compliance data to assess program integrity risks related to potential abuse of the International Student Program.

Individuals identified by the DLI as potentially non-compliant can be referred to the Canada Border Services Agency for enforcement action by IRCC following investigation by IRCC.
In cases of suspected non-compliance, the information is added to the individual’s file and may be taken into consideration on any subsequent immigration application.
The Department is aware of unscrupulous actors and unethical recruiters who seek to take advantage of students wishing to study in Canada in order to gain large commission fees, or to involve international students in illegal human movement for criminal gains. We are committed to working closely with Designated Learning Institutions to disrupt these networks and protect vulnerable students from exploitation.
When it comes to cases of fraud, we are focused on identifying culprits, not penalizing victims. Victims of fraud will always have an opportunity to demonstrate their situation and present evidence to support their case.

Contact:
Elizabeth Snow
Director General, Integrity Risk Management Branch
Tel. No.:

Approved by:
(Name) (Arial 14)
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations
Tel. No.:

The international student compliance regime is designed to gather accurate data on the compliance of international students in Canada that would help the Government of Canada detect potential fraud, trends, international student movement, non bona fide students and questionable institutions.
Quebec does not currently participate in compliance reporting. IRCC and MIFI are currently engaged in discussions pertaining to possible measures that may be taken to improve program integrity in Quebec’s international student program.
DLI designation and de-designation is carried out by the provinces and territories. IRCC does not oversee DLI programming and recruitment practices and does not have the authority to de-designate DLIs engaged in fraudulent activities.
In spring of 2022, 629 DLIs out of 683 (92%) (who received a compliance report from IRCC to complete) submitted their compliance reports to IRCC: of the 433,313 international student records sent to DLIs to report on, 90% (390,610) were reported on as compliant, 28,867 were reported on as potentially non-compliant and 13,836 were not reported on at all.
In fall of 2022, 663 DLIs out of 707 (94%) (who received a compliance report from IRCC to complete) submitted their compliance reports to IRCC: of the 524,997 international student records sent to DLIs to report on, 90% (473,174) were reported on as compliant, 38,674 were reported on as potentially non-compliant and 13,149 were not reported on at all.

A Letter of Acceptance Verification Project (LoAVP) was launched in 2018 and is a centralized office in the Domestic Network for communicating with designated learning institutions (DLIs) to verify the authenticity and validity of letters of acceptance (LoA). Verification requests are typically sent to the LoAVP during the processing of an application if an officer has concerns regarding the submitted LoA. LOA verification happens on an ad hoc basis by officer request.
When processing applications, officers review any adverse information that has been added to a file and take that information into consideration. Procedural fairness considerations provide the applicant with the opportunity to respond to an officer’s concerns.

As part of a review of the International Student Program, IRCC has engaged multilaterally with provincial and territorial ministries of education and immigration to discuss potential measures to address problematic DLIs and unethical student recruitment.
IRCC wrapped up consultations with provinces and territories on
June 7, 2023 and is currently awaiting written feedback from provinces and territories to incorporate in options to the Minister.
Any options put forward by IRCC will involve close collaboration with provinces, territories, institutions, and other stakeholders and will take firm action to ensure that students are protected from unscrupulous third party actors.
IRCC is undertaking a review of the International Student Program to strengthen program integrity and enhance protections to address student vulnerability, unethical recruitment and non-genuine actors in the program. The goal is to ultimately protect international students and Canada’s interests, and to help modernize the program to better select and retain students that meet Canada’s economic and social-cultural goals, including francophone and regional immigration objectives.