On January 29, the British Columbia (BC) government announced new measures to protect international students in the province. As part of this, new approvals for higher education institutions that accept international students will be suspended for two years until February 2026.
In a statement, Minister of Higher and Vocational Education Selina Robinson said she is concerned that too many international students are being exploited and taken advantage of when they come to British Columbia. The purpose of this measure is to strengthen the protection of international students by imposing stricter conditions on educational institutions, and to provide better education to international students so that they can welcome talented students to British Columbia and contribute to economic development.
It is said that in addition, the state government has also announced plans to “conduct more frequent on-site inspections of private higher education institutions,” “increase approval standards for private degree programs,” “introduce new minimum standards for student language proficiency,” and “reduce tuition fees.” He announced measures such as “becoming more transparent.”
Approximately 545,000 people are currently enrolled in higher education in British Columbia. Of these, 175,000 are international students from approximately 150 countries, approximately 82,000 studying at public educational institutions and 94,000 at private educational institutions.