New Federal regulations on post- graduation work permitation for international students is posing serious issues especially in New Brunswick. Mary Butler, President and CEO of New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) said she was shocked at new measures that restrict work permits using national shortage lists.
Anger over Federal Restrictions on Work Permits
Predictably to NBCC leadership, last week’s federal changes include new contingent to post graduate work permit for international students. These permits which will allow graduates to work temporarily in Canada, will now be linked with occupations for which there is a long-term national shortage.
International Students: Essential to NBCC
Overall, NBCC relies heavily on international students in which the proportion of international students make up to 36% in the past year. Butler was most worried about the governments’ policy of general work permit regime standards because they could potentially strangle regional labor markets for employment if the requirement for workers did not align with the national shortage.
Career of New Brunswick workers is strained.
Instead of that one of the representatives of the labor interested, Butler, highlighted the changes in the intensity of labor requirements in the province, in concrete, construction. Out of the 25,000 construction workers in 2019, 27% were found in the southeastern region of the province and only 10.4% were in the northeastern region.
CCNB has similar concern as it focuses on the threats such as:
Cyrille Simard, Director of development Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB) also shared Butler’s worries. He pointed out that more than half of their students are from other countries, and the linking of work permits with the national shortage of workers can harm not only the international students but also the domestic students who depend on the sustainability of some programs. As such, many CCNB programs which have high ISE ratio might face risk of closure in case student enrolment reduces affecting local students.
What Lies Ahead For International Students?
The federal government is to come up with further information concerning which professions will be included under the new requirements for the work permit. The occupations will be modeled on the same long-term sought-after skills categories as the federal Express Entry, comprising healthcare, science, technology, engineering, and math, trades, and agriculture occupations.
