In an article for the Toronto Star, Western University President Alan Shepard discusses the importance of international students to Canada and the need to identify “bad actors” in higher education. Shepard references Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent remarks about how recent policy changes will target “bad actors,” but notes that there is no clear indication as to how this will happen. At the same time, Shepard writes, Canada is “grappling with meaty problems” that could benefit from the global brainpower provided by international graduate students. Shepard asserts that Canada must implement a strategy that identifies supportive universities and colleges and take action to ensure that there is a clear pathway for highly qualified graduate students to join research-intensive institutions and make substantial contributions to the country.
