The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has outlined a plan to present a new Trusted Institution framework for its student visa program by 2024. This framework is a key element within a broader strategy targeted at modernizing the IRCC’s International Student Program (ISP).
While precise details are presently limited, initial reports highlight the central concept that revolves around assessing post-secondary institutions based on definite criteria that show their reliability as partners in various aspects. These comprise sustainable intake management, genuine student identification, compliance monitoring and reporting, and making certain a secure and elevating experience for international students.
Accelerated application processing benefits to ‘Trusted Institutions’
Institutions meeting these norms will earn the designation of Trusted Institutions. Though the full scope of benefits tied to this status remains to be fully clarified, the IRCC has pointed out that Trusted Institutions could enjoy efficient and accelerated application processing for their prospective students.
At present, any Canadian institution enrolling international students must be categorized as a Designated Learning Institution (DLI) approved by their respective provincial or territorial government. Foreign students need an acceptance letter from a DLI to apply for a Canadian study permit. The proposed Trusted Institution framework will find a two-tiered structure among Canada’s DLIs, differentiating between those recognized as Trusted Institutions and those that are not.
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The origin of the Trusted Institution framework hints back to a briefing led by the IRCC in June 2023, directed at select peak bodies and stakeholders. This framework arose from the Strategic Immigration Review and a detailed examination of the ISP. Key concerns identified comprised the vulnerability of foreign students, a fast surge in application volumes, and the desire for augmented diversity within the international student population.
To apply the Trusted Institution framework, two main categories of data will be relied upon. Some data will be drawn from the IRCC’s records and other Canadian government sources, including factors, i.e. study permit approval rates, countries of origin, and post-graduation outcomes like transitioning to post-graduate work permits or other IRCC programs.
DLIs will also be instructed to engage in a new reporting scheme, sharing extra data with the IRCC. This data will include metrics like foreign student retention rates, on-time program completion rates, the proportion of revenue generated from international tuition, institutional investment in international student support services, availability of institution-managed housing, and teacher-student ratios.
Following a town hall event in August 2023 concerning selected Canadian institutions, the IRCC plans to refine its data collection survey and make it accessible to all DLIs in the fall of this year. The data will be collected and analyzed through the spring of 2024 to find the initial designations of Trusted Institutions.
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