Good afternoon. Thank you very much, Chair Dhaliwal, for the opportunity to present on behalf of Vancouver Community College.

We are on the traditional unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, who have been stewards of these lands since time immemorial.

As mentioned, I am the president of Vancouver Community College, but I'd like to share with you a few other roles I hold.

I'm a member of Invest Vancouver's management board. That's a standing committee of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. I'm an executive board member of Colleges and Institutes Canada, a trustee for World Education Services, a past chair of the Canadian Bureau for International Education, an executive member of BC Colleges and a board member for the BC Council for International Education. Prior to my role here at Vancouver Community College, for about 12 years, I held the international education portfolio in my administrative portfolios. I believe these roles, combined with my role here at VCC, provide me with a broad and unique perspective on the intersection of education, immigration and labour market development in Canada.

Vancouver Community College is British Columbia's oldest public post-secondary. We have about 13,000 learners across various fields, including health care, hospitality, culinary, technology and the trades. Of those 13,000 learners, about 30% are new-to-Canada immigrants and 30% are international. We work closely with employers to ensure our graduates are job ready. Our students have an average age of mid-thirties, and most of them already have a degree. Of our graduates, both international and domestic, 92% secure employment within months of completing their studies at VCC. Many of our graduates fill critical labour market needs in the areas of health care, hospitality, automotive and technology.

The impacts of recent reforms implemented by IRCC over the last year have created significant challenges for institutions like VCC and others.

The first one is the reduced student intake cap. I'll be very clear. Many of us agree that we needed to have a cap put in place. Since the cap was announced in January, however, we have seen declines in applications to B.C. public colleges of up to 90%, which threatens our labour supply in industries like health care, technology and hospitality. That's one of the unintended outcomes.

The second is postgraduate work permit reform. The new eligibility criteria fail to account for regional labour needs and disproportionately exclude college-trained professionals who are critical to Canada's economy.

Let me share three specific examples with you to give some context. Our culinary and hospitality graduates, who are vital to our tourism economies in both the metro and rural regions, are excluded, even though non-permanent residents make up over two-thirds of the two million people in that sector of the workforce, according to Stats Canada. College-trained dental hygienists and assistants are excluded from postgraduate work permit eligibility, despite the new national dental care program. Another example is early childhood education, which was initially excluded, and we are very thankful it is now being reconsidered.

Those are just three specific examples of the impact these reforms have. These exclusions, without proper consultation, hinder our ability to address labour market shortages and, in the end, to my mind, will harm small and medium-sized businesses.

The third point I'd like to make is on the inequity between public colleges and universities. Treating public college credentials differently from university program credentials undermines the essential role colleges play in meeting labour market needs, as well as Canada's education reputation. Our graduates are equally vital to Canada's economic growth.

The fourth point I'll talk about is the regional implication. International students in British Columbia contribute over $8 billion annually to B.C.'s economy and support nearly 80,000 jobs. With over a million projected job openings over the coming decade, these reforms, without proper consultation, risk exasperating our labour market shortages.

The fifth one is something André already mentioned. Canada's reputation is at risk. These overlapping, and what are perceived as sometimes hasty, policy reforms have weakened Canada's global reputation as a top education destination. We need to address that.

To address these challenges, I urge this standing committee to recommend to the government to, first, work with the provinces to update the list of postgraduate work permit eligible programs to better reflect regional labour market needs. Second, treat public college credentials equal to those of universities for postgraduate work permit eligibility. Third, engage with all stakeholders to strengthen partnerships among institutions, provinces, the federal government and IRCC. We all have a role to play in this success. The fourth one is that any policy reform should be implemented gradually so that clear timelines and thorough consultation take place to avoid unintended impacts.

VCC, along with the many organizations I represent and our public sector here in British Columbia, is committed to supporting a sustainable international student program that benefits students, communities and Canada's economy as a whole.

I look forward to hearing from the committee.

Thank you very much.

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