Foreign students contributed more than $37 billion to Canada’s economy in 2022, mainly through tuition, according to a Department of Immigration report to the Senate.Blacklock's Reporter says the department did not mention rising concerns about housing affordability and job competition raised by other federal agencies.“In 2022, the most recent and complete data available, the economic contribution of international students to Canada was estimated at $37.3 billion,” said the report to the Senate national finance committee. It cited a population of more than 800,000 foreign students that year..The department warned that new limits on temporary residents — aimed at reducing their share to 5% of the total population — would mean lower economic benefits in future years. No estimates for that decline were provided.The number of international students in Canada more than doubled since 2015, from 457,828 to 1,040,000 in 2023. The average annual cost per student was $53,800 for university and $42,800 for college, according to a 2023 study by Roslyn Kunin & Associates Inc., paid for by the immigration department at a cost of $39,550.The report highlighted students from India, particularly those at the college level, as the main drivers of the surge. .It did not mention related costs, including rental pressure or job market impacts.In contrast, a 2023 department briefing warned high immigration levels “may exacerbate existing pressures within Canada’s housing market.” The Bank of Canada echoed those concerns, stating last July that newcomers were driving up rents. “This is because most newcomers start out as renters,” it said, noting housing supply has not kept up.Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reported a 1,500% increase since 2000 in the number of foreign students working in Canada, especially at the college level. No federal analysis has addressed how this affects employment opportunities for Canadian students.
