Sanni Yaya, Vice-President, International and Francophonie, University of Ottawa
Article published on February 24, 2022, Ideas section, Le Devoir
Over the past several weeks, the university and college community and many elected officials across Canada, have reacted strongly—and rightly so—to the abnormally high rates of denial of study permits for international students from Africa.
Indeed, over the last few years, many study permit applications processed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada have often been rejected for unfathomable reasons or have resulted in unusually long processing times. Why are graduate students, with scholarships guaranteed by their institutions and good compliance records, being refused visas if not an implicit bias by application assessment officers convinced of their intention to stay in Canada once their study permits expire?
Even more troubling is the fact that students’ applications from francophone African countries are rejected in greater numbers than those of students from other countries. This situation is appalling in many respects. First, for the excellence of training of the African youth, and second, for the excellence and sustainability of education and research institutions in Canada, especially when it comes to the country’s bilingual and francophone universities and colleges.
Recently, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration has taken up this matter. The testimonies and reports tabled, including by the University of Ottawa, highlighted the strategic importance of these students, not only for postsecondary institutions’ financial health but also for the entire Canadian labour market.
With an international student community of nearly 10,000 from 147 countries, who today represent almost 21% of the student population, the University of Ottawa has seen a dramatic 350% increase in the number of international students enrolled in its 450 programs between 2011 to 2021. Over the same period, the number of international students enrolled in French-language programs has increased more than fivefold. Now representing 25% of the total francophone student population. This achievement is a source of pride for us, and reflects international recognition of our know-how and the quality of our academic project. The presence of these students in our community is a source of diversity and cultural enrichment, and is an illustration of our goal of becoming a university community of convergence.
For the University of Ottawa, the unusually high level of denial of study permit applications reveals a lack of equity and, especially, and above all, a lack of consistency in federal policies. Canada’s International Education Strategy (2019–2024), which aims to make Canada one of the top education destinations in the world and to diversify the source of international students, is counting on the recruitment of these same students. However, this is not possible without a true system-wide coherence and coordination, not only within the federal government itself (e.g., Global Affairs Canada; Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; Employment and Social Development Canada), but with the provinces and territories as well.
Bilingual and French-language universities and colleges across the country are being hit hard by systemic barriers that require a complete overhaul of existing processes and procedures. Outside of Quebec, this situation profoundly affects a precarious and fragile balance, that could ultimately threaten the financial viability of Canada’s French-language education and research institutions. Canadian francophone communities are faced with immense challenges (shortage of qualified labour, intergenerational linguistic transfer to English, francophones’ decline in demographic weight, etc.); welcoming students from French Africa - which has an average age of 20 years and the highest growth rate of francophone populations in the world - opens a door to the future.
Today, post-secondary institutions must differentiate themselves from their traditional (American and British) as well as non-traditional (Asian) competitors, who prevail as references. One may regret this notion of higher education which contributes to competition to varying degrees among universities. But this is not incompatible with models of internationalization based on co-operation and co-construction. The spread of knowledge and ideas must be matched with the greater mobility of students and researchers. One cannot exist without the other. Universities that are open to the world must be able to welcome the diversity of the world.
According to Global Affairs Canada, international students contributed more than $22 billion to the Canadian economy in 2018 and supported more than 218,000 jobs. Welcoming and retaining international students provides universities and society as a whole with the means to develop and grow. For the University of Ottawa, this is an important shift that must take place now. The status quo is no longer an option and the federal government must act, and sometimes that means going back to the drawing board to find creative solutions (the expansion of the federal government’s Student Direct Stream to many other African countries is a good example ) that will allow Canada and its institutions to maintain a world-class education for all students, including those from French-speaking Africa.