VOA教育报道2024--Why Is Canada Limiting Foreign Students?

Why Is Canada Limiting Foreign Students?

　　Canada recently announced a two-year limit on the number of foreign students given permission to study in the country. The move is partly to ease a growing housing shortage.

　　Reuters news agency recently reported on some of the details of the plan:

　　What are the details?

　　Marc Miller¹ is Canada's immigration minister. Miller said the government led by the Liberal Party of Canada will introduce a temporary, two-year limit on student visas. That will result in about 364,000 student visas in 2024. The government said that is a cut of 35 percent from the year before.

　　The new proposals will also set limits on postgraduate² work permits issued to foreign students. The new limits will likely cause many postgraduate students to return to their home countries.

　　The permits were formerly³ seen as an easy path to securing permanent residency. People in master's or post-doctoral programs will be eligible⁴ for a three-year work permit.

　　However, people who are married to foreign students in undergraduate and lower-level college programs will no longer be able to receive work permits. The acceptance of new study permit requests in 2025 will be reconsidered at the end of the current year, Miller said.

　　Why has the government changed its policy?

　　Canada has become a popular place for international students. It has been easy to receive work permits after finishing study programs in the country. But the increase in international students has led to a shortage of rental⁵ homes. This has caused the price of rent to go up. In December, the cost of rent nationwide rose 7.7 percent from a year earlier, government data shows.

　　Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's popularity has decreased partly because of increasing living costs. Opposition⁶ Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has taken a lead over Trudeau in public opinion studies. Elections are expected to be held next year.

　　The government has also been concerned about the quality of education offered by some schools.

　　Who will this affect?

　　Canada's government says international students bring in about $16.4 billion to the nation's economy. The new policy will hurt many colleges and universities.

　　Ontario, the most populous⁷ area, or province, has the biggest share of international students. Some businesses, including restaurants and retail⁸ industries, have warned that a limit on foreign students will create a shortage of temporary workers.

　　For example, restaurants across Canada are dealing⁹ with a worker shortage. It is estimated there are nearly 100,000 available jobs. International students made up 4.6 percent of the 1.1 million workers in the food service industry in 2023, an unnamed industry group told Reuters.

　　Canadian banks will gain from the new rules for international students. Each student will be required to have a Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GIC) of more than $15,000. The amount is required for international students to be able to cover living costs. The new GIC is more than double the amount from the earlier policy.

　　Many of Canada's foreign students, about 40 percent, come from India. China coming in second with about 12 percent, official data from 2022 shows.

　　Words in This Story

　　postgraduate – adj. of or relating to studies done after earning a bachelor's degree or other degree

　　residency – n. legal permission to live in a place

　　eligible – adj. able to do or receive something

　　rent – v. money that you pay in return for being able to use property and especially to live in an apartment or house that belongs to someone else

　　affordable¹⁰ – v. to be able to pay for (something)

　　retail – adj. relating to the business of selling things directly to customers for their own use

1 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

2 postgraduate   

adj.大学毕业后的，大学研究院的；n.研究生

参考例句：

• I didn't put down that I had postgraduate degree.我没有写上我有硕士学位。
• After college,Mary hopes to do postgraduate work in law school.大学毕业后， 玛丽想在法学院从事研究工作。

3 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

4 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

5 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

8 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。