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Message from the Provost: Continued impact of immigration changes for international students
February 3, 2025
This message is sent on behalf of Dilson Rassier, provost and vice-president academic. It has been sent to all faculty and staff.
Over the past months, our community has navigated significant change, and it seems that we will continue to do so. We recently received more information about the impacts of immigration changes for international students. I know this is difficult, and my commitment to you is to share the latest information and explain how this will affect SFU.
Background
In 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) capped the number of study permit applications that could be accepted from international students. Since the introduction of the cap last year, undergraduate international students were required to submit a Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL) from a post-secondary institution with their study permit application.
IRCC has since decided to add graduate students to that cap and decreased the PAL allotment for B.C. by 8%, both of which translated to budget impacts at SFU.
This year鈥檚 allocation
We have now received details from the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills regarding SFU鈥檚 allocation of PALs for 2025. Unfortunately, our undergraduate allocation is about 300-350 lower than we had anticipated, which means that we will not meet our planned undergraduate enrolment targets for international students. Our allotment of PALs for graduate students should be sufficient for our needs.
The federal approach to immigration, followed by the interpretation of that direction by the Province, continues to create uncertainty and will have a negative impact on our budget this year and for years to come.
Our proactive approach in minimizing expenses and reviewing other streams of revenue generation means we will have a balanced budget in the current fiscal year; however, this ongoing volatility will require continued diligence regarding our financial situation.鈥�
What we鈥檙e doing
President Johnson was in Victoria last week meeting with government partners and others to express deep concern and advocate for our university. In addition, our government relations team is in Ottawa this week to advocate for solutions and we are actively collaborating with our partners in the Research Universities鈥� Council of British Columbia to ensure that institutions are aligned across the sector.
International students are a critical part of our community and we deeply value the diverse and global perspectives they bring to SFU. These changing guidelines with immediate impacts continue to cause stress for students, and our Student Services team is working hard to ensure that clear information, support and options are available to them.
We will continue to advocate strongly and raise awareness of the impact this decision will have on international students and on the quality of education and support we offer at SFU, as well as the economic impacts of limiting investment in education, research and innovation. I know many of you would like to support this advocacy, and we are developing an approach that we will share with you in the coming weeks.
This is a difficult time 尤物视频 and the entire sector, and we are grateful for the hard work being done by each of you. Our community makes SFU special, and we will continue to lean on each other and live out our vision, values and priorities as this situation evolves.