Thousands of international students still waiting on permits after Canadian school year begins

As welcome signs were hungand orientation activities echoed across Canadian post-secondarycampuses last week, thousands of international students were still back in their home countries, waiting to hear about the status of their study permits.

Mackenzy Metcalfe, executive director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, says the organization is hearing from several frustrated international students who are affected bybacklogs atImmigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

"These delays really impact how students experience campus," Metcalfe said. "It means students won't be able to attend campus until the middle of September, maybe even October, so they miss welcome week, getting to know campus, introductions to friends and those things that are really core to any student's university experience."

With international students already paying substantially higher tuition fees, advocates are pushing for the government to prioritize and process study permits faster. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says it isboosting staff and modernizing its systems to increaseprocessing capacity and tackle the backlogs in the short term.

According toIRCC, as of Aug.18, the number of study permit applications to be processed is 163,600. It says 64 per cent of those applications are currently within its service standard of 60 days.This leaves potentially thousands of students whose applications may not be ready in time for them to start the school year.

Anxiety high for international students

Metcalfe says this period of time inpost-secondary education is especially meaningful for studentscoming from a different country, andany kind of delay can also result in additional financial strain.

"Even pushing back their start date by a couple of weeks can have thousands of dollars in implications in terms of rent and food and rearranging flights and accommodations to come study in Canada," she said.

Some of these students worry they may lose a semester of schoolandsay their anxiety over the situation is high.

Even pushing back their start date by a couple of weeks can have thousands of dollars in implications in terms of rent and food and rearranging flights and accommodations to come study in Canada.- Mackenzy Metcalfe,Canadian Alliance of Student Associations

Victoria, who is from Russia, said she applied for her study permit in January 2022 after being accepted to Ottawa'sAlgonquin College for a design program.

"I postponed the start of classes twice in May and September 2022," she said. CBC News agreed to only use her first name as she worries speaking out will affect her application.

According to the IRCC, the average processing time for a study permit from outside Canada is 12 weeks, not including the time it takes to send an application between a visa application centre and its office. Victoria says she's now going on eightmonths.

"I'm afraid I won't have received an answer by the end of the year," shesaid.

More communication from IRCC needed:lawyer

Lev Abramovich, an immigrationand refugee lawyer at Abramovich & Tchern Immigration Lawyers, says international students he's worked with have been angry and confused.

"Imagine you've completed all of the requirements, paid $50,000for first year, you're excited you're going to University of Toronto you've rented an apartment and the best years of your adult life are about to begin and instead you're missing a year,"Abramovichsaid, referring to a situationone of his clients is facing.

Abramovichtold CBCNewsthe IRCC should have taken more responsibility in communicating with students so they could have made more informed decisions.

"If IRCC looked at the numbers, looked at how many resources they had, and said 'Unfortunately, many of you won't be processed,' you could govern yourself accordingly.That has not happened," he said.

IRCCsays it's working through backlog

In an emailed statement to CBCToronto,Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada spokespersonJulie Lafortunesaidthat for the month of August, the departmentwas able to process 84,000 study permits and 21,000 extension applications, which allowinternational students currently in Canada to continue their studies.

"To keep Canadians up to date on our progress toward reducing the backlogs, IRCC is publishing monthly data on our website," Lafortune said.

According to the statement, IRCCalso recently announcedthat the department will hireup to 1,250 new employees by the end offall to increaseprocessing capacity and tackle the backlogs in the short term.

"IRCC is moving toward a more integrated, modernized and centralized working environment in order to help speed up application processing globally," she wrote.

Victoria says if she could apply for post secondary all over again, she would choose to study in a different country. So far, she says, she's out $8,200 the amount ofher tuition deposit.

"If I knew about this, I never would have applied to Canada," she said.