Canada's Immigration Plan to Tackle International Student Visa Issues

0:00Canada's immigration officials just laid out a plan to fix big problems in the international student visa program right after the auditor general. Dropped a tough report last month, the report called out week checks on who stays and who goes, with schools flagging 153,000 non-compliance cases from 20, 23 to 2024. But the department only had cash to chase 4,000 of them. Deputy minister Ted Gallivan, who's only been on the job 4 weeks, told the House of Commons Committee they're pushing voluntary exits first. That means gentle reminders, then tougher ones, and threats like a 5-year ban for overstays. He's kicking off pilot programs to track visa ends better, with IT upgrades in the works. Meanwhile, only 40% of the 39,500 students told to leave in 2024 actually bounced. Plus, 800 fraud cases got ignored, and Gallivan says he still wants answers on that. Canada border services agency, head Aaron O'Gorman, backed the voluntary push, saying

1:02forced removals are pricey, and they prioritize serious cases like. Failed claimants. Still, her team removes non-compliant folks every year, and both sides promise tighter teamwork. Looks like most students play by the rules and will head out on their own, but the feds are ramping up to catch the rest without breaking the bank. Press your update from Calgary News today, powered by AI.