Canadian Journal of Higher Education

From Recruitment to Restrictions: A New Policy Era for International Students in Canadian Higher Education

Emma Harden-Wolfson — 2026-05-25

Geopolitics and the Governance of International Students: The Evolving Role of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in Canadian Policy

Emma Harden-Wolfson — 2026-05-25

This study investigates how Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)’s approach toward international students is evolving in light of shifting geopolitics, using the critically oriented What’s the Problem Represented to Be? approach. Analyzing IRCC announcements from 2022 to 2025 relating to Canada’s global commitments revealed three themes: addressing humanitarian crises, promoting Canadian values, and mobilizing international talent. While IRCC has fulfilled its mandate for immigration, settlement, and meeting Canada’s humanitarian commitments, it has also emerged as a powerful actor in education policy. At the same time, it is actively contributing to foreign policy. However, this is unfolding in ways that are inconsistent and that perpetuate inequalities. This requires equitable and non-oppressive approaches for Canada to enrich higher education and fulfill its global commitments. The study offers insights into the changing nature of Canadian policy making in the mid-2020s, particularly in relation to the new nexus of immigration, education, and foreign policy.

Tracing Public Sentiments and Policy Changes Toward Canadian International Students Using LLM

Ya Xuan Wang — 2026-05-25

Recent Canadian higher education policies, such as the federal international student cap, reflect a growing nationalist-populist orientation. To understand how such policy directions emerge and gain traction, our study moves upstream from policy content to public discourse. We conduct a thematic analysis of social media posts (on Twitter/X) using a large language model (ChatGPT-5), comparing pre-pandemic (2015–2020) and post-pandemic (2020–2025) discourse. Our findings reveal a post-pandemic surge in negative sentiments, increasingly framing international students as competitors for housing, jobs, and public resources. We demonstrate that public discourse not only reflects individual perceptions but also drives national agenda-setting and gives momentum to restrictive policy measures within Canadian international higher education. Consequently, it is important for higher education leaders and policy makers to account for the policy implications of discursive scapegoating and to consider the role of social integration in sustaining internationalization efforts.

Standing in the Doorway: Representations and Realities of Punjabi International Students in Canada

Lilach Marom — 2026-05-25

This article examines the construction of international students, particularly Punjabi international students, in Canadian policies and mainstream media discourses post–COVID-19. It then juxtaposes these representations with the perspectives of students themselves, as captured through a survey with Punjabi international students transitioning out of British Columbia colleges and teaching universities. Our analysis reveals the fraught dialectic between the policy landscape, media discourses, and Punjabi international students’ trajectories. On a policy level, when international students are perceived to hold high economic value with low social costs, they are welcomed; when that perception shifts, they are “Othered.” Similarly, media discourses represent Punjabi international students in complex and often contradictory ways as victims, system abusers, commodities, and strains on infrastructure. In contrast, Punjabi international students largely see themselves as young people striving to build better futures, buying into the “Canadian dream” while simultaneously navigating processes that render them vulnerable to exploitation and Othering.

The Effects of Quebec and Canadian Immigration Policies on International Student Recruitment in CEGEPs

Olivier Bégin-Caouette — 2026-05-25

International student mobility faces increasing constraints due to more restrictive immigration policies. This article investigates the impact of recent federal and provincial reforms on the recruitment strategies of international students in Quebec’s colleges (CEGEP). Based on a descriptive and chronological analysis of 38 policy documents and an omnibus permutation test calculated from survey responses of 37 CEGEPs in 2019 and 2024, the findings reveal a growing complexity in administrative responsibilities, a significant increase in the number of international students, and a diversification of their countries of origin. The article shows that, despite the tightening of immigration policies, CEGEPs are adapting their strategies and retaining agency in international recruitment.

The Rise and Fall of Public College-Private Partnerships in Ontario

Seerat Gill — 2026-05-25

In the early 2000s, several northern and rural Ontario public colleges entered contractual agreements that were later termed “public college-private partnerships” (PCPPs). In this model, colleges subcontracted program delivery to private third parties, which primarily educated international students on private campuses, often in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This article traces the evolution of PCPPs from 2005 to 2024, using agency theory to analyze relationships between government, public colleges, and private affiliates. While PCPPs allowed colleges to cross-subsidize their public mandate, a practice that financially benefited government and public colleges, we argue that a lack of adequate oversight created agency problems that led to moral hazard and opportunism and, ultimately, contributed to the federal government’s 2024 reforms to international student policies. These reforms led to the near elimination of demand for PCPPs, the winding down of PCPP operations, and had major consequences for the financial stability of Ontario’s public colleges.

A New Era? A Case Study of the University of Manitoba’s Response to Federal International Student Policy

Merli Tamtik — 2026-05-25

Canada’s federal and institutional policies have long been aligned to attract and retain international students and skilled immigrants. This policy landscape shifted dramatically in January 2024, when Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced a national cap on study permits. This article examines the impact of these new federal policy measures on research-intensive universities. Specifically, it asks: (1) How did universities interpret and respond to these policy changes? and (2) How did they adapt organizationally? Drawing on institutional theory and a case of the University of Manitoba, we introduce the concept of crisis isomorphism to explain how universities may navigate abrupt policy disruptions. The study contributes to understanding the shifting terrain of internationalization in Canada amid heightened federal intervention.

Navigating the Crosscurrents: Canadian Colleges and Universities in an Era of Federal Policy Shifts and Fiscal Constraints

Rashed Al-Haque — 2026-05-25

The Canadian college sector is facing a systemic crisis driven by the perfect storm of chronic provincial underfunding and abrupt federal immigration policy shifts. This moderated discussion explores how reforms to Canada’s immigration laws with respect to international students have triggered a crisis for Canadian postsecondary institutions, including substantial budget losses, program cancellations, and significant human costs for international students and college and university employees. Through professional perspectives from advising, department leadership, faculty, and executive, the authors detail institutional responses to fiscal constraints and operational uncertainty. Using case studies from Seneca Polytechnic, Durham College, and Conestoga College in Ontario, and Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia, the moderated discussion highlights the precarious reliance on international tuition and the resulting erosion of campus community. Ultimately, the authors argue that this crisis necessitates a new social contract for Canadian higher education, urging a fundamental transformation of funding models and a renewed focus on institutional integrity and public purpose.