Christian schools bemoan cuts to international students

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This article was published 14/04/2024 (903 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two Manitoba Christian schools say the recent decision to limit the number of international undergraduate students in Canada is having a serious impact on them.

Providence University College, with campuses in Otterburne and Winnipeg, and Booth University College, in Winnipeg, have both had their international student allotments drastically reduced by the provincial government.

Providence, which had 461 international students in undergraduate programs in the 2023-24 academic year in both locations, will only be able to send invitation letters, called provincial attestation letters, to 37 students for 2024-25.

Booth, which has 98 international students, will only be able to issue 14 letters.

International students who receive an attestation letter are able to apply to the federal government for a study permit.

The advanced education department determined the allotment for the colleges.

The federal government approved 18,652 spaces for international students who want to study at post-secondary schools in Manitoba. Nationally, only 292,000 study permits will be allowed — down 28 per cent from the current academic year.

Ottawa reduced the number allowed to study here to address the housing shortage in the country.

The cap does not apply to international students studying at the graduate level.

“We appreciate that this was the result of a federal decision and we are grateful that the Manitoba government has offered us what they felt they could,” Providence president Kenton Anderson said. “But the decision means we will no longer be able to serve international undergraduate students in the city of Winnipeg.”

Providence had planned to boost its international student population to about 1,000 students, who would live downtown. That plan “is no longer viable,” Anderson said, adding the decrease will “create a massive financial hole for us.”

“We appreciate that this was the result of a federal decision and we are grateful that the Manitoba government has offered us what they felt they could. But the decision means we will no longer be able to serve international undergraduate students in the city of Winnipeg.”– Providence president Kenton Anderson

To deal with the financial impact, the school will shift to offering graduate-level programs for international students. “We are hopeful that by making the necessary adjustments we can flourish in this new regulatory environment,” Anderson said.

He noted that housing was not an issue, since Providence had purchased the former Booth campus at the corner of Webb Place and Balmoral Street for its international student program with the idea of putting them up in dorm rooms at that facility. “We had stepped up in that area,” he said.

Since only about half of international students invited to study in Canada are actually able to come, many because of difficulties in obtaining visas, the low number of spaces for Providence might only result in only 20 or so students attending the school, he said.

The cap on international students also affects Americans, Anderson noted, something that hurts Providence since it views North Dakota and Minnesota as prime locations for recruitment. “Now that is not possible for us,” he said.

For Booth president Rob Fringer, the reduction was “shocking” and “dismaying.”

In a letter to Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable, Fringer noted the 14 spaces allotted to Booth represent a decrease of 94 per cent from last year. That reduction, he said, “is a devastating blow and will cripple us — or worse.”

Fringer said he expected a reduction, considering the overall decrease in study permits allowed by the federal government. “But I never expected that it would be such a large reduction,” he said.

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Since Booth is the only degree-granting post-secondary institution of the Salvation Army in the world, “It would be a huge loss” to that church if the school was forced to cut programs or even close, he said.

In a statement, the minister said the province’s focus “was to keep public institutions close to their 2023 international student study permit numbers.”

Cable noted Manitoba was offered 15,232 invitation letters at first, and she was able to lobby for that to be increased to 18,652 letters.

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She said Manitoba “followed federal direction to prioritize private institutions that are training folks to fill our labour market needs like pilots, early child-care educators, and health-care aides. We applied the same allocation approach equitably and universally across all institutions. We want international students to know they are valued and welcomed at our public universities and colleges.”

The decrease in the number of international students allowed to come to Manitoba will not have a severe effect on Canadian Mennonite University, since it doesn’t have many students from other countries.

“CMU does not consider international students to be a major part of its revenue streams,” said president Cheryl Pauls, noting the school will be allowed to issue 44 letters of invitation in the next academic year, compared to about 75 in previous years.

The reduction won’t have a big impact on Steinbach Bible College, which will be permitted to send out 15 letters of invitation to international students. This year, the school had nine international students.

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John Longhurst
Faith columnist & reporter

John Longhurst has been writing for Winnipeg's faith pages since 2003. He also writes for Religion News Service in the U.S., and blogs about the media, marketing and communications at Making the News.

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