Canada's New Immigration Rule of Doubling Cost-of-Living Fuels Reverse Immigration

Studying in Canada is getting difficult for International students as the Canadian government has revised its student visa rules. International students will now have to prove they have CAN$20,635 in available funds, other than the amount they need to pay for tuition. However, this has fueled 'reverse immigration' trends in Canada.

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Canada's New Immigration Rule of Doubling Cost-of-Living Fuels Reverse Immigration

Studying in Canada is getting difficult for International students as the Canadian government has revised its student visa rules. The immigration ministry has doubled the cost-of-living financial requirement for international students applying to study in the country. International students will now have to prove they have CAN$20,635 in available funds, other than the amount they need to pay for tuition.
However, this has fueled 'reverse immigration' trends in Canada. As per a report by Reuters, In the first six months of 2023 some 42,000 individuals departed Canada, adding to 93,818 people who left in 2022 and 85,927 exits in 2021, official data show. The rate of immigrants leaving Canada hit a two-decade high in 2019, according to a recent report from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC), an immigration advocacy group.
Canada's new Immigration rule has doubled the amount that students are required to have in savings now (about CDN$10,000). The new amount (CDN$20,635) represents 75% of the low-income cut-off in Canada, known as LICO. As per the government's statement, the decision has been taken for the welfare of students. The steps is a remedy to a trend in which students come to Canada with a $10,000 threshold and then struggle for survival.
Backing the new immigration rule Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marc Miller said: “International students provide significant cultural, social and economic benefits to their communities, but they have also faced challenges navigating life in Canada. We are revising the cost-of-living threshold so that international students understand the true cost of living here. This measure is key to their success in Canada. We are also exploring options to ensure that students find adequate housing. These long-overdue changes will protect international students from financially vulnerable situations and exploitation.”
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