Conestoga students seeking asylum in Canada
Claims jumped from 106 in 2022 to 450 in 2023
A growing number of students from Conestoga College are applying for asylum in Canada, with even more inquiring about the option with local support agencies.
In a news conference with media in late February, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said he had concerns with an “alarming” spike in asylum claims from international students in the country.
Conestoga College was used as one of the examples, where claims jumped from 106 in 2022 to 450 in 2023.
Those numbers have now been officially confirmed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
One of the concerns with Canada’s growing international student programs is they have become a primary pathway for individuals to get into and remain in the country, and are not necessarily about receiving a world-class education.
In 2023, more than one million international students had active study permits in Canada, an increase of 29 per cent over 2022.
In cases where these students are not able to stay after their studies are over, some have been exploring other avenues.
At Conestoga more than 6,600 students were accepted in 2023 to have their study permits extended; that is on top of the 32,000 new study permits that were approved last year, federal data shows.
About 600 of the extensions were denied.
Conestoga had more successful extensions than any other school in the country, with the University of Toronto next at about 6,500, followed by Seneca College with 5,400.
Conestoga also had the most extensions denied.
While any international student can technically claim asylum, each claim is assessed on its own merits, and not everyone is accepted.
Claimants are required to prove they would face persecution if they were to return to their home country, including risks to their life, torture, or prosecution based on their
religion, race or political affiliations.
Claims are handled by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, an independent administrative tribunal, which determines whether an individual needs Canada’s international legal protection.
It can be a lengthy process, which gets longer when more claims are made.
Immigration Canada did not provide information on which countries Conestoga’s 450 asylum claimants were coming from, or how many were accepted.
In Waterloo Region, the K-W Multicultural Centre works closely with local asylum seekers, but it does not provide services to international students who are interested in pursing an asylum claim.
The students are coming anyways.
“We have seen an increase in the number of people coming into our office. We don’t provide legal advice, but we help people with the process. But what we will do if a student comes in and they want to make a claim, we will explain the process,” said K-W Multicultural Centre president Lucia Harrison.
“We also explain to students that if their claim is denied, it is unlikely that a new student permit will be issued.”
Harrison said her staff will not advise students whether they should go ahead with a claim or not, that is up to the individual. However, between the K-W Multicultural Centre and the COMPASS Refugee Centre — the two main institutions in the region that help asylum seekers — Harrison said it is unlikely they provided explanations of the process to all 400 students who applied.
“I don’t know what other organizations would be giving them advice on their claims, but I can say it hasn’t been through us.”
Harrison said most of the students they are seeing are from India.
“Anecdotally, considering the huge pressure that international students are under, and the huge financial burden it could have been for their family, if they are struggling at school or in other ways, they may not want to go back” Harrison said.
Overall, asylum claims from India have been growing in Canada, according to a recent investigation by the CBC, reaching nearly 3,500 in 2022, with about half being accepted.
Less than 20 claims were accepted from India in 2014.
Most of the study permit extensions for Conestoga were granted to students from India, representing 5,500 of the 6,600 total.
Nigeria was next with about 500 students, followed by China with about 130.
These numbers closely mirror the new study permit holders in 2023 at Conestoga, with about 25,700 Indian students, 2,600 Nigerian students and 930 Chinese students making up the bulk of the 32,000 permit holders.
“Given increasing global conflicts in recent years, it is understandable that the number of asylum seekers in Canada has increased,” said Conestoga spokesperson Brenda Bereczki.
“Although we are not provided with any data related to asylum seekers at Conestoga, the college welcomes and supports individuals from diverse backgrounds. We remain committed to all students and ensuring access to quality programming as well as a broad range of health and wellness supports.”
In a statement sent by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, it said its overhaul of the international student program in general should help ensure asylum claims don’t continue to rise in years ahead.
This includes the cap on international students over the next two years, as well as increasing the minimum financial requirements for new students to $20,000 from the previous amount of $10,000.
“In recent years, we have seen rapid increases in the number of international students arriving in Canada. Some institutions have significantly increased their intakes to drive revenues, and more students have been arriving in Canada without the proper supports they need to succeed,” the federal department said in a statement.
“This also puts pressure on housing, health care and other services. Further, we have seen the rise of nefarious actors preying on international students for financial gain. These developments have threatened the integrity of the program overall.”