By Antonio Aragón

It isn’t just poor politics… It’s failed policy.

In a few short years, international students have gone from being hailed as saviours of our post-secondary system in Canada, to convenient scapegoats.

Every time housing, inflation, crime or unemployment dominate the headlines, guess who gets blamed?

The very people we welcomed with open arms not long ago.

Isn’t that lazy politics?

It is easy to point a finger at students who came here in good faith… after all, they don’t have a vote.

As recently as the pandemic, we told international students they were essential workers. We expanded work rights, encouraged enrollment, and celebrated their contributions. In 2022, they were injecting $22.3 billion into the economy, more than auto parts or lumber exports. Come 2023, Canada hosted over 1 million of them, a 29% jump year-over-year.

However, after all the standing ovations, those same students are being painted as the ones to blame for youth unemployment and soaring rents.

Blame Game

Despite countless policy shifts to the international student program, this weekend the CBC reported on political leaders calling for more reforms or even cancellation of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Some voices, like immigration lawyer Mark Holthe, went further to argue that “the sheer volume of international students available to work is likely affecting the labour market for young people.”

Following Holthe’s remarks, economists like McGill’s Fabian Lange emphasized that youth unemployment is a cyclical phenomenon tied to a slowing economy, not the fault of migrants or students. What worries me most, as York University Professor Yvonne Su puts it, is that “demonizing international students is not just a rhetorical exercise; it has real, harmful consequences. It licenses discrimination, exploitation and distracts from Canada’s most urgent internal issues.”

We really need adults in the room

Shaping the future of international education is a shared responsibility. What’s missing are responsible, level-headed, mature leaders who can step in, take accountability, and make thoughtful, long-term decisions.

We need associations like CBIE, Universities Canada and CICan, university & college presidents, federal, provincial and municipal governments, policymakers, industry leaders, sitting down to map out the next decade of higher education and labour strategy.

Not quick caps, not election campaign soundbites, and no finger pointing at international students themselves.

This political scapegoating not only hurts Canada’s reputation. It also undermines the trust of those who invested their lives and savings here.

Canada’s future depends on talent, innovation, and openness.

Treating international students as scapegoats is not just bad politics… it’s bad policy.

Let’s have the hard conversation… because Canada can’t afford to delay it any longer.

References

CBC News – Are temporary foreign workers taking young Canadians’ jobs? Here’s what experts think (Sept 6, 2025)
ICEF Monitor – Measuring the impacts of the first full year of Canada’s foreign student enrolment cap (July 2025)
The PIE News – Canada faces further international student drops (2025)
Times Higher Education (THE) – New international student caps hurt Quebec universities (2025)
York University News – Demonizing foreign students sidesteps solutions to Canada’s problems (Jan 13, 2025)
CUPE – Scapegoating international students over affordability crisis is a cynical move (2025)
ICEF Monitor – Canada hosted more than 1 million international students in 2023 (Jan 2024)
Financial Times – Canada’s youth face bleak employment market as economy slows (Aug 2025)

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