January 23, 2024

The Government of Canada has announced that it will approve 360,000 undergraduate study permits for 2024, marking a 35% reduction from 2023. Each province and territory will receive an allotment of this total, with more significant decreases seen in provinces with “the most unsustainable growth” in their international student populations. A cap for 2025 will be introduced by the end of this year. Several other changes affecting international students were included in the announcement: International students are now required to provide an attestation letter from a province or territory when applying for a student permit, students and their spouses will face new restrictions to work permits, and international students who begin programs that are part of curriculum licensing arrangements will no longer be eligible for the Post-Graduate Work Permit program.

HEC Montréal, Rabat Business School (Morocco), and IÉSEG (France) are launching an International Triple Bachelor in Business (ITB) program this September. The ITB will be hosted on three different continents, with students attending Rabat for the first year, IÉSEG for the second, and HEC for the final two years. Graduates of the program will receive three degrees: a Bachelor of International Program in Management from Rabat, a Bachelor in International Business from IÉSEG, and a BBA from HEC. “This approach to excellence aims to cultivate the leadership of the next generation of managers in the business world, by promoting their transversal and strategic thinking, while anchoring them in their local environment and connecting them on an international scale,” said HEC Director Federico Pasin.

The UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean has unveiled its Higher Education Policy Observatory (HEPO). This publicly accessible platform allows users to access and compare information about higher education systems and policies from almost 150 countries. Users can view data from eight overall categories pertaining to national higher education systems: Governance, legislative framework, quality assurance, system planning, access, admission pathways, costs, and recognition of future qualifications. The aim of HEPO is to support policymakers, researchers, and higher education leaders as they share valuable information, exchange knowledge, foster dialogue, and collaborate effectively on an international scale.

Durham College, Fanshawe College, Sheridan College, and St Clair College have launched a joint project to empower women in Red Seal Trades. The “Women in Red Seal Trades – Advancing the Career Ecosystem” project has received $2M in funding from the Government of Canada and $300K from partner Unifor. Over the next three years, the colleges will work together to raise awareness and create opportunities for women to explore career education, networking, and apprenticeships in the Red Seal Trades. The colleges will also establish a Women in Trades Network, with the intention of fostering community through events and mentorship opportunities for women in the trades.

In a recent article for Nature, Andy Tay discusses how sharing laboratory materials and information benefits researchers. Tay writes that the open science movement is gaining momentum, with many researchers embracing open-access publishing in particular. However, the open sharing of lab materials, reagents, and protocols has not been adopted as readily. Tay discusses how open-science organizations can provide the infrastructure needed to share research plans, protocols, materials, data, and findings, and offers tips to researchers looking to get their labs involved in materials sharing. Tay concludes by noting some of the common concerns about open science and discusses the circumstances in which it may not be beneficial to share data, research, and materials publicly.

The University of Regina is currently investigating approximately 50 alleged cases of academic misconduct from its collaborative nursing program, reports CBC. According to a URegina spokesperson, the academic misconduct cases are connected to final exams taken in December 2023 by students in the Saskatchewan Collaborative Bachelor of Science Nursing program, which is jointly delivered by URegina and Saskatchewan Polytechnic. “We can confirm that some of the investigations have determined that academic misconduct did occur, while others resulted in a determination that there was inadequate evidence to support a finding of misconduct,” read an email from URegina spokesperson Paul Dederick.

Loyalist College has launched the 4 Seasons of Reconciliation employee education program, developed in partnership with the First Nations University of Canada. The program will offer insight into the history of colonization and includes content that is specific to Loyalist’s community, including an exploration of its new land affirmation. After employees complete the online modules, they can participate in group sharing circles facilitated by Loyalist’s Tsi Titewaya’taro:roks Indigenous Centre team and workshops about how they can apply the program to guide course content and classroom management practices. “Laying this foundation allows us to move forward in decolonizing and Indigenizing Loyalist College,” said Loyalist Executive Director of Indigenous Initiatives and Reconciliation Jennifer Tewathahá:kwa Maracle.

An article in University Affairs discusses the various responses from universities to the Government of Canada’s recently updated policy on research and security. The federal policy unveiled last week provides a list of sensitive research areas and foreign institutions deemed a risk to national security. Some universities welcomed the clarity provided by the new regulation, pointing out that the specificity in the list is helpful for research planning. Others state that the definitions of sensitive research areas are still too broad and that the policy lacks a clear explanation of why each foreign institution in question was selected as a risk.

Mount Royal University has launched a new food security initiative called NourishU that teaches students how to budget, grocery shop, and cook. The program is meant to help students make the most of limited budgets and empower them with skills that extend beyond the kitchen. Students who sign up for NourishU receive access to a free hands-on cooking class, a $100 grocery store gift card, information about free food assistance and campus resources, and cooking essentials such as a cutting board. The three-hour cooking classes are scheduled throughout January, February, and March.

The University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Science has expanded opportunities for students to continue their education to become a doctor or a veterinarian. To facilitate these opportunities, UWaterloo has signed agreements with five medical and veterinary schools in the Caribbean: Saba University School of Medicine, Medical University of the Americas, St Matthew’s University School of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, Ross University School of Medicine, and the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine. The agreements provide eligible students with an advantage by allowing them to move directly to the interview stage of the application process. Each institute offers financial support for international students, and together, the five institutes offer a variety of clinical experiences through connections in the US, UK, and Canada.