THE Canadian government is considering putting limits on foreign student visas.
This was disclosed by the Canadian housing minister, Sean Fraiser, following a cabinet retreat in the Atlantic province of Prince Edward Island.
“I think that is one of the options that we ought to consider,” Fraiser said when quizzed on whether the government may look to reduce the number of students immigrating into Canada.
“We’ve got temporary immigration programs that were never designed to see such explosive growth in such a short period of time,” he went further.
The Minister explained that this as all due to surging cost of housing in the country.
Frasier stressed that the marked increase in the number of students immigrating the country was putting enormous pressure on some housing markets.
He explained that the perceived inability of the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to address the housing issue was causing the Conservative Party so surge ahead in the polls of a federal election earmarked for October 2025.
Canada currently has a population of around 39.5 million people.
It is set to receive 500,000 new permanent residents in 2025, which is a record high.
The Minister opined that, limiting the number of immigrants is not the remedy.