Canada's housing crisis with increasing international students

Canada has aggravated the housing crisis by increasing the recruitment of international students and does not seem to have a suitable solution for it.

The problem is not only the increase in attracting permanent immigrants, but the increase in temporary foreign workers or international students as temporary residents of Canada has raised the demand for housing and caused an increase in rents.

Last year, the average rent in the country increased by more than 10%, and this figure is expected to increase again this year. According to data from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), by the end of last year, 807,750 international students were studying in Canadian universities with valid student visas. This figure is 30% more than the number of international students in 2021.
The largest number of international students last year belonged to the province of Ontario, which shows a figure of more than 411 thousand students.
British Columbia ranks second with 164,000 students and Quebec ranks third with 93,000 students. The largest group of international students in Canada is from India with 319,130 ​​students, followed by China and the Philippines.

Because attracting international students brings financial income to universities, these universities are trying to enroll more students, but this policy has affected the housing market and, as rents rise, low-income workers, seniors on fixed incomes, and people dependent on social assistance are under pressure. put pressure

Considering these conditions, it seems that in order to solve this crisis, the government and universities should cooperate with each other and by encouraging the participation of private developers by providing low-cost loans, put more projects in the construction of rental apartments on the agenda. Canadian universities asked the federal government to fulfill its obligations regarding the provision of housing. At the same time, these universities are trying to solve the problem of student housing by getting approval for the construction of student dormitories on the university campus and also providing resources outside the university campus.

Late last month, the homelessness of an international student from India living under a Toronto bridge made headlines, raising concerns about Canada's economic crisis and the homelessness of more foreign students.