Close X
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
ADVT 
National

Immigration minister announces new rules to curb international student fraud schemes

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 27 Oct, 2023 09:58 AM
  • Immigration minister announces new rules to curb international student fraud schemes

Colleges and universities that issue acceptance letters to international students will have to confirm all of them with the federal immigration department as Canada moves to crack down on fraud.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced the new rules Friday following an investigation this summer into more than 100 cases involving fake admission letters.

The department launched a task force in June to investigate a scheme that dates back to 2017, which saw immigration agents issue fake acceptance letters to get international students into Canada.

Of the 103 cases reviewed so far, roughly 40 per cent of students appeared to be in on the scheme, while the rest were victims of it. 

"The use of fraudulent admissions letters has been a major concern for my department this year and continues to pose a serious threat to the integrity of our student program," Miller said at a press conference at Sheraton College in Brampton, Ont. Friday. 

International students are not to blame, he said.

Miller said he also plans to set up a system to recognize post-secondary schools that have higher standards for services, supports and outcomes for international students in time for the next fall semester.

The standards could also include making sure accepted students have access to adequate housing.

"Our goal here is to punish the bad actors to make sure that they are held accountable, and reward the good actors who provide adequate outcomes for the success of international students," the minister said. 

Details about how exactly recognized schools and institutions would benefit under the new system will be released later, the minister said. As an example, he said applicants for those schools would be prioritized when it comes to processing their study permits.

MORE National ARTICLES

Series of fires outside Mission

Series of fires outside Mission
The Mounties say police and firefighters responded Wednesday evening to a report of a structure fire on a vacant property along Gunn Avenue and found several buildings on fire, with indications that the blazes had been set intentionally. They say police responded to flames on a different property along the same road yesterday and again found they appeared to have been sparked intentionally.

Series of fires outside Mission

B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations up 58% in two weeks, as infections, deaths also spike

B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations up 58% in two weeks, as infections, deaths also spike
COVID-19 cases are on the rise in British Columbia, with the BC Centre for Disease Control reporting hospitalizations have increased 58 per cent in the past two weeks. The centre says in its latest update that deaths due to COVID-19 are also trending upwards, with 24 fatalities in the last week of September, compared to nine in the second week of August. 

B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations up 58% in two weeks, as infections, deaths also spike

Spike in Vancouver's homeless count

Spike in Vancouver's homeless count
The count by the Homelessness Services Association of B-C was done on March 7th and 8th -- and identified just under five thousand people in 11 communities, up from the roughly 36-hundred identified in the March 2020 count.

Spike in Vancouver's homeless count

Surrey business community grapples with police tax

Surrey business community grapples with police tax
Business leaders in Surrey are pleading with the province to provide a clear plan as the city grapples with the next stage of implementing a new police force. The Surrey Board of Trade has sent a letter to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth saying the city needs a solid policing strategy with adequate wraparound support services and infrastructure as it juggles the costs of the outgoing R-C-M-P and incoming Surrey Police Service.

Surrey business community grapples with police tax

B.C. sets out law to ban use of illegal drugs in many public places

B.C. sets out law to ban use of illegal drugs in many public places
British Columbia is setting out new rules as it attempts to navigate a way to curb the overdose crisis with drug decriminalization. Possession of small amounts of many illicit drugs was decriminalized in B.C. in January after the federal government issued an exemption, but legislation introduced by the province today would make their use illegal in many public spaces. 

B.C. sets out law to ban use of illegal drugs in many public places

'Extremely fluid': Liberals and NDP haven't yet agreed on promised pharmacare bill

'Extremely fluid': Liberals and NDP haven't yet agreed on promised pharmacare bill
The federal New Democrats have rejected the first draft of the Liberals' pharmacare legislation, in what the health minister describes as "extremely fluid" negotiations over the highly anticipated bill. The Liberals promised to table pharmacare legislation this fall as part of the supply-and-confidence deal the government struck with the NDP.

'Extremely fluid': Liberals and NDP haven't yet agreed on promised pharmacare bill