Cape Breton University International Recruitment and Global Partnerships Director Victor Tomiczek is calling on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to adopt a regionalized approach to its International Student Program. Writing for The Pie News, Tomiczek argues that rural and economically vulnerable communities like Cape Breton Island rely on international students to sustain population levels, workforce needs, and institutional growth. “The international student cap was designed to address national concerns, such as housing pressures in major urban centres,” he writes. “But Cape Breton is not Toronto or Vancouver. Here, international students are not straining the system, they are sustaining it.” Tomiczek warns that without tailored policies, recent IRCC caps could reverse hard-won progress for institutions like CBU and the communities they serve.
