Thank you, Mr. Chair and the committee, for the opportunity to address you today.

I would like to begin by acknowledging that I am speaking to you today from the traditional and unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Kwikwetlem nations.

I appreciate the opportunity to talk about the recent changes the Government of Canada has made to the international student program. This is something we're very familiar with at Simon Fraser University.

As many of you know, Simon Fraser University is a leading research university that is advancing an inclusive and sustainable future.

Based in British Columbia, SFU has over 37,000 students across three campuses in Burnaby, Surrey and Vancouver.

Since 1995, we have a demonstrated record of helping business and academia commercialize their great ideas right here at home. Our dedication to driving innovation has enabled us to attract the world's best and brightest to Canada. Students from abroad who choose to study at SFU bring incredible ideas and diverse thoughts to our classrooms. Those who graduate and stay in Canada have gone on to contribute greatly toward our domestic economy.

International and domestic students alike are students in computer science, engineering, health sciences, as well as business and social science programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Immigration reform has become a priority for the Government of Canada, and it has been escalating in urgency over the past 18 months. These matters are incredibly complex. While we agree on the need to address bad actors and to increase the housing supply for students and Canadians alike, we feel it's crucial to approach this challenge with care and consideration, especially given where we find ourselves today.

Canada's talent gap is widening and its domestic productivity continues to lag behind global competitors. This is a decades-long issue exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. SFU and other research universities are uniquely positioned to help address these challenges. Through partnerships with industry, we drive innovation, create economic opportunities and prepare students for the jobs of the future.

Actions taken to address this complex set of issues have caused several unintended and significant consequences, including the financial burden placed on institutions that were largely unaware of and not consulted on these changes.

At SFU, we have been recognized as Canada's top comprehensive university, offering a diverse academic program. The changes implemented by the IRCC have resulted in significant declines across all faculties at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This impacts our globally recognized research programs.

In these challenging times, when the need for collaboration and collective action is greater than ever before, SFU and our colleagues in the sector are ready and willing to help the government. They are already doing so in diverse ways.

Take housing, for example. Through SFU's housing master plan, we are investing in the delivery of affordable housing and child care for students, which is reducing pressure in the community. Over the last year, we opened 865 new accommodations for the students on the Burnaby campus. Many more students have on-campus housing and are not competing in the local rental market, which frees up lower-cost rentals. This brings the number of on-campus student beds to more than 2,450. The next phase of student housing will open in fall 2027, creating additional accommodations for 445 students and a 106 spaces in the child care centre.

We encourage all committee members to recognize the unintended, immediate and long-term consequences that these blunt policy measures will have on Canada's economy. These measures will, without a doubt, affect SFU's ability to help close Canada's talent gap through workforce training, to drive innovative research, and to foster economic growth. This will impact the whole post-secondary sector.

Lastly, we encourage you to engage with universities and institutions of higher learning. We're here to help mitigate risk, avoid unintended consequences and build a sustainable path for international education and the Canadian economy as a whole.

Working collaboratively, we have the opportunity to ensure that institutions like Simon Fraser University continue to shape the next generation of Canadian leaders and innovators and drive Canada's economy.

I thank committee members once again for the opportunity to address you today. I look forward to your questions.

Thank you very much.

Transcript

Discussions (0)