International student cap worries local employers
The effect is likely to extend beyond just Niagara College and Brock University
The federal government’s decision to place a cap on international students is expected to have a significant impact on the post-secondary sector.
But in Niagara, the effect is likely to extend beyond just Niagara College and Brock University, with concerns rising as to what it could mean for the employment industry.
Each year, thousands of international students come to Niagara, either taking part-time jobs while they study at local institutions, or graduating and entering the workforce, specifically in industries of great need.
So while the impact and fallout of the federal cap remain unclear, Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce policy and government relations director Hugo Chesshire said “it’s going to be serious for a lot of employers and industries.”
In January, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller announced Ottawa is cutting student permit applications by 35 per cent, with individual caps established for each province and territory. Ontario, which attracts the highest number of international students, could see permits cut by 50 per cent.
Miller said the government, which has never capped international student permits, took the step due to the housing crisis across Canada and high inflation rates.
Following the initial announcement, Niagara College vice-president, international, Sean Coote said the decision — and lack of consultation with the education sector — was disappointing for Ontario colleges, which “provide such a vital support for our local industries.”
If there was a labour shortage before the announcement, “that is going to be amplified over the coming years significantly,” said Coote.
“Many of our employers will certainly feel the reduction of
international students entering the labour force in very much needed high-skilled jobs across the region and across the province.”
Chesshire said the cap is “very concerning,” with labour challenges already within the local economy, specifically in industries such as tourism, which relies upon students or semiskilled labourers to work parttime or weekend shifts, as well as in-demand professions including personal support work, nursing and skilled trades.
It poses problems, both in the short and long term.
“If there is a sudden drop in the number of graduating students in these professions, in these trades and then, years down the line as that gap works down into the labour market, there’ll be another labour shortage to come then when there are just not enough students,” said Chesshire.
Niagara College graduates large numbers of nurses each year — many who come to the college with a nursing degree earned in other countries. Coote said in the past four years the college has graduated more than 2,500 foreign-trained nurses who have transitioned to work locally as personal support workers, or in the hospital system and long-term care.
He said there is not a facility in Niagara “that doesn’t have some of our internationally trained nurses.”
Niagara Health said it supports thousands of students within its hospital system each year, a partnership that head of human resources Fiona Peacefull called “fantastic” either through clinical placements — which readies health-care workers to work in the industry — or as working graduates.
With a national shortage of health-care workers Peacefull said it is “continuing to recruit health-care talents and international students are certainly an important group that we recruit from.”
There is fear the international cap could impact the number of students attending and graduating from post-secondary institutions, which could impact its hospital vacancy numbers. And that concern extends across the health-care sector, including at long-term-care homes and for home care.
“I would worry that if we’re not having the same volume of clinical placements and the same volume of candidates available … it could negatively impact our vacancies and our ability to deliver patient care in what is a fairly stretched system,” she said.
“College students are fantastic because they come in and help provide patient care but they also are giving our staff an opportunity to be a mentor or preceptor. They also teach our staff about new things they’ve learned, so it’s such a win-win.”
In addition to health-care workers, both Coote and Chesshire said there could be an impact on skilled trades, including cooks, chefs, hotel administrators and tourism employees, as well as skilled carpenters, masons, construction engineers and technicians.
Vivian Kinnaird, chief executive officer of the Workforce Collective, said it’s too early to understand the implications, but said it is likely there will be an increase in staffing demand within certain sectors.
She also expressed concern that not only will there be fewer students, but fewer family and spouses travelling with them, creating “almost a doublewhammy” on the workforce.