A National Post story has sparked rumours that some international students are being banned from taking university science courses in Canada in the wake of September 11, but according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, that rumour is false.
Kaye Francis, Acting Co-ordinator for the U of T International Student Centre (ISC) said that since the publication of the September 22 article, she has been bombarded with media calls, but that there is “no source” to this rumour.
The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), a national organization that advises the ISC on immigration matters, has, according to Francis, “assured us that everything is as was,” and that there’s been no change in policy in admitting university students from abroad to study in Canada.
“We’re not aware of any sort of denial of students’ authorization based on a students’ background or certain courses they want to take,” said Francis.
Simone MacAndrew, Departmental Spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said that the events of September 11 have resulted in “no changes whatsoever” to issuing foreign student visas. All students wishing to study in Canada are evaluated on a case by case basis. “We always welcome foreign students,” said MacAndrew.
Although there has been “increased vigilance in security checks” since the attacks, she couldn’t comment directly on what the security procedures are.
In the US, attitudes towards international students appear to be changing, with US Senators Dianne Feinstein and John Kyl introducing legislation into the U.S. Senate that would increase their ability to track foreign nationals.
One of their suggestions is to “prohibit persons from obtaining student visas if they come from terrorist-supporting states,” citing Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Syria, North Korea and Cuba as examples. They feel that current policies are easily abused and background checks are necessary.
MacAndrew says these changes will not impact Canada. Although they work closely with the U.S. and share information, “the US makes their laws, we make our laws.”
Jennifer Humphries, Director of Scholarships and Awards at CBIE, said that despite concerns of a government clampdown on international students, so far it has been “business as usual.”
Senator Feinstein originally called for a six-month moratorium of the student visa program, but later withdrew her idea after complaints from schools and universities. Humphries understands the situation. “The US is very aware that 500,000 international students pump 11 billion dollars a year into the economy. They are not going to quickly take…action that would reduce their economic benefit.”
Ontario Canadian Federation of Students Chairperson Joel Duff remains concerned.
“There’s a lot of pressure coming from down south to impose tighter restrictions and so on for international students. We should remain vigilant in ensuring that our policy makers don’t make those changes,” he said.
