Business leaders in B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 capital city say the new cap on international student visas requires a serious rethink.

The federal government乌鸦传媒檚 recent decision to temporarily slash visas by more than one-third came amid concerns a stark rise in international student numbers is putting pressure on Canada乌鸦传媒檚 housing system.

But Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce CEO Bruce Williams argues there are other ways to deal with the housing crisis that don乌鸦传媒檛 include a cap.

乌鸦传媒淲e think that the better solution is to build more housing on campus,乌鸦传媒� Williams said in an interview.

He pointed to Camosun College having no student housing while the University of Victoria has a multitude of residence options.

乌鸦传媒淯niversities are allowed to carry debt and incur debt for things like housing, but community colleges are not,乌鸦传媒� Williams said. 乌鸦传媒淪o that needs to be examined.乌鸦传媒�

The chamber said in January it was following up on concerns expressed by local post-secondary schools facing a serious and unanticipated financial burden from the international student program cap.

The University of Victoria is planning budget cuts for the 2024/2025 school year and it cited the decreasing international student enrolment as the primary cause. Four per cent of the university乌鸦传媒檚 operating budget could be axed, which amounts to about $13 million.

Although the budget has been announced, UVic said 乌鸦传媒渋t is too early乌鸦传媒� to determine what areas will be impacted by the cuts.

Ultimately, Williams乌鸦传媒� biggest concern is the long-term impact on Canada乌鸦传媒檚 economy.

乌鸦传媒淭he problem with this is that we need to create a workforce and post secondaries create the skills to create a workforce,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淲e have a huge demand for workers right now and immigrants, which includes international students, (the feds have) taken that all away.乌鸦传媒�

The federal cap also aims to crack down on post-secondary intuitions that collect high fees from international students and offer a poor education in return. Those schools garnered harsh words from federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller during his January announcement.

乌鸦传媒淚t is not the intention of this program to have sham commerce degrees or business degrees that are sitting on top of a massage parlour that someone doesn乌鸦传媒檛 even go to and then they come into the province and drive an Uber,乌鸦传媒� Miller said.

The cap is also being allocated based on each province乌鸦传媒檚 population. That provision strives to make it so jurisdictions like B.C. and Ontario don乌鸦传媒檛 get to accept more students than they can handle while smaller provinces end up with enrolment shortages.

Williams suggested that intuitions should be audited to keep them in check.

乌鸦传媒淭here are colleges in Canada that have an inordinate number of international students, which is a major source of revenue for them, which also means that these visas are going to them and they乌鸦传媒檙e now being evenly distributed across the country.乌鸦传媒�

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