JH: It is fraught with challenges for the institutions – private, public, post-secondary, secondary and so on – and certainly for the associations. However, from the students’ perspective, there may not be that much of a visible change.

Some of the changes in the regulations are really positive, like the immediate access to a work permit without having to wait or to go through another process, and without having to pay an added fee.

Proportionally you’re looking at 60-70% of students who will access the benefit of immediate access to a work permit

The PIE: Increasing access to immediate work permits seems like a huge advantage over your competitors.

JH: It’s a huge advantage, yes. It’s limited to students who are doing college and university certificate, diploma or degree programmes. But that’s a huge segment of the international students coming to Canada, so proportionally you’re looking at 60-70% of students who will access this benefit. Off-campus work opportunities were already a major point in Canada’s favour as a destination and this reinforces it.

The PIE:  But new regulations have also created headaches for universities, especially mandates allowing only registered consultants to give visa advice. 

JH: This legislation, which came into force two and a half years ago, initially didn’t seem to involve educational institutions at all. Now it does, and it impedes international student advisors (ISAs) and student services offices from providing the types and scope of advice that they used to. Primarily they were advising about study permit renewal times or how to get an off-campus work permit – student issues only.

We are working with government and the regulatory authority to find a way that ISAs can continue to provide essential student-oriented services

But ISAs also have sensitivity to what the students’ academic career is like: would they be able to succeed in doing five courses at the same time as working off campus? Or if they drop a particular course, would they graduate when they thought they would? That’s where ISAs really excel, and if they can no longer do that – which many schools can’t because the ISAs, by and large, are not registered consultants [Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs)] – then there’s a gap. This can be overcome through engaging a lawyer or a registered consultant, but they may not have the awareness of the academic aspects or the social integration aspects of the student’s life.

We are working with government and the regulatory authority to find a way that ISAs can continue to provide essential student-oriented services, and we are encouraged by recent developments.

The PIE: What are the alternatives CBIE has suggested?