The Office of the Auditor General of Canada has released a report on the findings of its review of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s international student program reforms. The auditor general noted successes on the fronts of controlling the growth of the international student program and the implementation of new systems, while also identifying weaknesses on fronts such as the IRCC’s response to suspected cases of fraud and non-compliance. It also noted that the actual decrease in study permit approvals was much greater than projected and that the reduction in new study permits disproportionately affected smaller provinces. The report outlines several recommendations for IRCC, including changes to its response to fraud, its controls for study permit extensions, and its analysis for determining annual study permit allocations.
