Question Period Note: INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS – IMPACTS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC

International students in Canada or planning to study in Canada have been impacted by the health and travel restrictions imposed to address COVID-19 pandemic. The Department has put in place measures to assist international students during these uncertain times.

PROPOSED RESPONSE:
• International students make immense economic, cultural and social contributions to Canada. We are committed to the success of international students and will continue to adapt and respond to the challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
• Through the pandemic, IRCC has made various temporary policy changes to encourage students to continue pursuing their programs of study in Canadian educational institutions.
• This includes a temporary measure on distance learning, in place until August 31, 2022, that allows students to complete up to 100% of their studies at a Canadian designated learning institution from outside Canada and remain eligible for a post-graduation work permit.
• In addition a new temporary policy will give recent international graduates with expiring temporary status an opportunity to stay in Canada longer, so that they can continue to gain work experience and have a better chance at qualifying for permanent residency.
If pressed:
• Starting in summer 2022, former international students who are in Canada and have a post-graduation work permit expiring between January 31 and December 31, 2022 will qualify for an additional open work permit of up to 18 months. Details will be made available soon.
• To facilitate economic recovery and to help Canada meet its immigration targets IRCC introduced a temporary pathway to permanent residency for recent international graduates from Canadian institutions. The maximum number of applications (40,000) was reached one day after the pathway opened, demonstrating the keen interest of many international students to stay in Canada after their studies.
If pressed on processing
• Over 550,000 study permits were finalized from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021; this represents a 152% increase compared to the same period in 2020 and a 30% increase compared to the same period in 2019.
• Processing for the first quarter of 2022 surpassed 2021, with more than 136,000 Study Permit applications finalized from January to March, compared to about 118,000 for the same time period in 2021, on pace for beating last year’s record for Study Permit processing.
If pressed on Budget
• Canada welcomes millions of visitors, students and temporary foreign workers each year, and demand is growing. To help meet this demand, Budget 2022 committed $385.7 million over five years and $86.5 million ongoing, for IRCC and federal partners, to ensure the timely and efficient entry of a growing number of visitors, workers, and students.
If pressed on Chinook
• The Chinook spreadsheet is not a decision-making tool and has no effect on the outcome of an application. It does not fundamentally change the way applications are processed.

BACKGROUND:
Update on processing
• Due to the Ukraine situation and other processing pressures, IRCC is struggling to meet the current level of demand. However, based on the current pace of input and output, IRCC expects to be back on track for a 60-day commitment to processing by July 2, 2022.
• The Department is seeing an ever-increasing demand for Canada’s study offering, resulting in growing processing pressures:
o From January to March 2022, the Department received approximately 175,000 applications for new study permits (including extensions). This compares to approximately 131,800 for the same time period in 2020, a 32% increase.
o From January through April 2022, approximately 88,100 study permits were confirmed (the permit holder arrived in Canada) and approximately 65,200 study permits were authorized but have yet to be confirmed (the permit holder has not yet arrived in Canada)
Travel Measures and International Students:
• Since October 20, 2020, study permit holders and those approved for a study permit were exempt from the travel restrictions as long as they are attending a Designated Learning Institution (DLI) that has a provincially or territorially approved COVID-19 readiness plan.
• Effective January 15, 2022, international students 18 years and older may only enter Canada if fully vaccinated. International students under the age of 18 who are not fully vaccinated or unvaccinated may be permitted entry provided they attend a Designated Learning Institution with an approved COVID-19 readiness plan.
Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) and Distance Learning:
• Under normal circumstances, 50% of a program of study at a Canadian designated learning institution (DLI) must be completed in Canada and in class, and time spent studying from outside Canada is not counted toward the length of a PGWP.
• Until August 31, 2022, students enrolled in a PGWP-eligible program may complete up to 100% of their studies online from outside Canada, and have them count towards PGWP eligibility and length.
Processing Commitment for Study Permit Applications:
• IRCC met the commitment we made in Spring 2021 to process over 99% of complete study permit applications received before May 15 in time for the fall 2021 semester. Nearly 29,000 study permit applications were processed as part of that commitment.
• In 2022, IRCC is not offering the same processing commitment as last year since it created significant operational pressures. Instead, the Department will work toward enhancing and meeting its overall service standard more consistently for all fully completed applications.
Chinook:
• Chinook is a Microsoft Excel-based tool developed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for temporary resident application processing to increase efficiency and to improve client service by decreasing the impacts of system and broadband latency, thus improving processing times.
• Chinook displays information stored in the Global Case Management System (GCMS), IRCC’s processing system and system of record, in a more user-friendly way, allowing for increased GCMS user productivity.
• Chinook is a tool designed to simplify the visual representation of a client’s information. It does not utilize artificial intelligence (AI), nor advanced analytics for decision-making, and there are no built-in decision-making algorithms.
Budget 2022
• Budget 2022 proposed $385.7 million over five years and $86.5 million in ongoing funding to IRCC, CBSA, and CSIS towards facilitating the entry of visitors, workers, and students to Canada.
• The federal government also reiterated its commitment from Budget 2021 to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and improve Canada’s ability to select permanent residents based on changing economic and labour force needs.

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