International students are not required to obtain a police certificate from their home country’s police force before coming to Canada, but critics say this needs to change.
People applying for permanent residence, citizenship, or International Experience Canada (commonly known as a working holiday visa) You need to submit a police certificate like thiswhich gives Canadian authorities an early warning of a possible criminal history in the applicant’s country of origin.
However, Canadian visa officers do not always have access to police-generated documents when deciding whether to admit international students.
A spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) told CBC News that all authorities are “considering whether applications from around the world are being denied in order to keep Canadians safe.” He said he was reviewing it.
Immigration authorities are working with law enforcement partners such as the RCMP to “conduct comprehensive security checks to identify individuals who may pose a threat to Canadians,” the spokesperson said.
That screening process “may” include criminal background checks and require students to submit biometrics such as fingerprints or photographs, the spokesperson added.
That’s not enough, says P.E.I. senator Percy Down, who once served as Liberal Premier Jean Chretien’s chief of staff.
He became an advocate of stricter security checks after international students worked at an office supply store in Charlottetown. sexually assaulted a local woman.
Mr. Down argues that Canada should require all international students to submit a police certificate to prevent inadvertently admitting people with criminal records.
He said authorities should not simply request police certificates on a “case by case” basis, and that bad actors could slip through the cracks, especially when IRCC is dealing with such a large number of prospective students. He said there is. .
“We need to ensure that everyone entering the country, no matter where in the world they come from, undergoes some sort of security screening. We don’t need to import any more criminals. We have enough of our own. ” Down told CBC News.
“We need to make sure that the people coming here are safe, not just Canadians, but also other international students. They want a safe environment, too.”
According to IRCC, the number of international students with valid study permits in Canada will increase to 1,040,985 in 2023, an increase of 195 per cent compared to 352,305 in 2015, when the Liberal government was first elected. data.
Although the government announced last fall that it would tighten rules for accepting international students, figures submitted to parliament show that the number of foreign students in Japan with study permits was actually 1.07 million as of May 31. The number has increased to 3,435.
The federal government then announced: Set limits on programs However, IRCC still plans to issue about 485,000 new study permits this fiscal year and 437,000 next year.
International students are a major economic driver, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in tuition to the nation’s universities. Ottawa’s recent moves to rein in the number of international students are facing much pushback from educational institutions that rely on these newcomers.
Contributing to the explosive increase in the number of international students Supporting universities facing decline Significant reductions in domestic enrollment and state funding.
Some Canadian universities say they are concerned that the Liberal government’s cuts to international student permits will damage their operating budgets and impact Canada’s reputation as a world leader in education.
Researchers at McGill University there is no strong evidence Suggests that immigrants increase crime rates. Although international students are not classified as “immigrants” by the federal government, many apply for permanent residence after their studies.
Statistics Canada, which maintains a database of police-reported crimes, “does not collect any data on the citizenship status” of criminal suspects, a spokesperson for the agency told CBC News.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has some data on how many foreign nationals, including international students, have been expelled from the country on criminal grounds.
According to data provided to CBC News, 511 people were given removal orders (commonly known as deportations) in 2023. Of those, 390 were removed for what the CBSA called “serious” crimes.
This year we have already surpassed that number, with 568 removals in the first nine months of 2024, 418 of which were due to serious criminal activity.
These numbers provide an incomplete picture because some foreign nationals with criminal convictions are able to appeal their removal orders and remain in the country.
In Canada, international students have been accused of committing serious crimes.
An international student has been charged with murdering six people, four children and two adults, in a suburb of Ottawa earlier this year.
International student living in Sudbury, Ontario pleaded guilty Last year, he was charged with manslaughter after killing a classmate during a marijuana-related dispute.
One of the suspects who shot and killed B.C. Sikh temple leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was an international student, sources told CBC News.
Immigration Minister Mark Miller said the foreign national accused last month of plotting a terrorist attack on a Jewish site in New York City was in Canada as an international student.
Two years ago, a UPEI international student pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a customer at a Charlottetown Staples store.
International students were also arrested. Voyeurism, vandalism And fraud.
The CBSA told CBC News it is investigating 285 current and former international students for fraud after allegedly using fake post-secondary acceptance letters to “take advantage of Canada’s immigration system.” .
Approximately 28 people, some with ties to organized crime, have been deported or left the country voluntarily, as the CBSA continues to investigate the fraud case, the agency said.
Alberta Conservative MP Tom Kmiec is the party’s immigration critic.
He said the Liberals have shattered Canada’s long-standing consensus that welcoming more newcomers is a good thing.
“The concern I hear most often, and one that I share as an immigrant myself, is that the Liberal Party is undermining public trust in the system,” he told CBC News.
“We have to make sure we know who these people are when they enter the country and make sure no one is being defrauded. Police background checks are part of the basics. I don’t understand why the government would do that.” It’s common sense to make it a necessary step.
“Frankly, it’s an honor to come to Canada. We have a great country. At the very least, we should ask these students to have their police records checked. That’s what Canadians expect. It’s about being there.”
Mr Kmiec said the study permit application process would not be an onerous requirement as it would be entirely digital.
“You’re just uploading another PDF document. Extra information is never a bad thing, especially when it comes to protecting Canadians and residents already in Canada from people who may have ulterior motives. “Yes,” he said.
Dale McCartney is an assistant professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, researching international student programs.
He said it was natural to be concerned about crime, but he doubted whether the government could do much about crime through police certificates.
“Practically speaking, I don’t know if we can eliminate crime. If people are coming to Canada to kill people, wouldn’t they be lying? Necessary? “It’s a relatively simple process, but I don’t think it’s very effective,” he said in an interview.
This is the argument Mr Miller himself made before a Commons committee last month.
“We rely on our security partners to advise us on the risk profile we need to take in relation to these individuals,” he told MPs.
“The validity and authenticity of these certificates is questionable.”
McCartney said there was also a risk that these safety checks would be applied unevenly and be corrupted by anti-Black and anti-South Asian racism and Islamophobia.
He also said international students face a “huge risk of exploitation” because they tend to be unfamiliar with Canada. He said abuse, assault and abusive behavior targeting international students was “rampant. It’s incredibly destructive and extremely difficult to track.”
Mr McCartney called for improved settlement support programs for visiting students, such as those offered to some asylum seekers and refugees.
“Many international students don’t know how to protect themselves because they don’t have the local knowledge that many Canadians take for granted,” he said. “Universities are totally unprepared for this.”
There is ample evidence that international students are victims of crime, including abuse by fraudsters, extortionists, and criminally negligent landlords.
Some students are targeted for prostitution; was sexually assaulted.
there was Rise in hate crimes In some places, particularly in Ontario’s Waterloo region, officials believe an increase in international students is to blame.
The Indian government has also raised red flags about the number of its citizens dying while in Canada.
More than 170 people have died here in the past five years, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs. This number is higher than that reported in the US and almost three times the number of Indian students who died in Australia and the UK during the same period. .
