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The Trudeau government wants to cap temporary residents but has failed to contain the explosion of new study permits for international students. 

Government of Canada data shows permit approvals through May this year are outpacing last year at the same period, with Canada now home to 2.6 million non-permanent residents. The feds handed out 216,620 international study permits in the first five months of 2024, compared to 200,205 last May.

Canada accepted a record 1,040,000 foreign students last year, according to immigration data. The number of foreign study permits issued has nearly tripled to 352,305 since 2015.

Last year, it permitted entry to 800,000 temporary residents, including temporary workers and foreign students. By the end of 2023, Statistics Canada reported 2.6 million non-permanent residents in the country. 

Tom Kmiec, Conservative Shadow Minister for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, told Rebel News the failed policies of the Trudeau government have “overwhelmed” our immigration system.

“It is so bad that the current Liberal Immigration Minister himself said the broken system is ‘out of control’,” Kmiec said. 

“The previous Immigration Minister [Sean Fraser] admitted that the system is a ‘complete mess’. Even Trudeau acknowledged their shared failure, calling the system ‘broken.'”

Marc Miller, the Trudeau Liberals' immigration minister, puts the blame for Canada's housing crisis on the provinces for not building enough housing.

The Liberals, meanwhile, have massively increased all forms of new arrivals to Canada.https://t.co/t50c3TNz74 pic.twitter.com/iqlSb3poVQ

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) March 21, 2024

“Common sense Conservatives will clean up his mess and bring home an immigration policy that stops the fraud and abuse in the system and ties immigration to healthcare, housing, and jobs,” Kmiec said.

Immigration Marc Miller announced in January a cap on international students at roughly 364,000 approved study permits — down 35% from 2023. 

Pierre Poilievre slams former Liberal immigration minister Sean Fraser for his "total incompetence" in managing the international students program and attacking "the very programs he ran up until two weeks ago". pic.twitter.com/nOPNr6ySO1

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) August 23, 2023

The issue came to a head last summer with reports of foreign students living in homeless shelters and accessing food banks.

One Indian student at Conestoga College was found sleeping under a bridge in Toronto, reported the National Post, while a food bank in Brampton faced such widespread demand from foreign students that it had to cut them off from their services.

Tory leader Pierre Poilievre put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the prime minister. 

“He is the one that brought hundreds of thousands of people here without homes to cram 16 or 17 into a one bedroom or a basement apartment. … We also never had 2 million people at a food bank.”

Trudeau is asked about the failures of Canada's immigration system, particularly for international students.

Trudeau shifts the blame, saying provinces and schools have a "heavy responsibility" in fixing these challenges. pic.twitter.com/u0mFvUXApu

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) October 20, 2023

Kmiec adds that Trudeau and his immigration ministers have wrought the system with “fraud and chaos.”

“The Liberal government first allowed corrupt consultants and phony educational institutions to bring students here under false pretenses. Then they promised to fix the mess and bring it under control only to see things become worse amid a growing housing crisis of their making,” he said.

The Department of Immigration will blacklist colleges and universities found to abuse the international student program, as revealed in a February 4 cabinet inquiry that highlighted institutions such as Conestoga College, University of Toronto, Seneca College, University of Canada West, University of British Columbia, and Centennial College facing integrity challenges.

Notably, Indian students received the highest number of permits this year (91,510), followed by China, Nigeria, Philippines, and Nepal, showing an increase compared to the previous year's figures.