OTTAWA – A new report from Canada’s Auditor General, Karen Hogan, presented today in the House of Commons in Ottawa, highlighted a series of shortcomings in the reform of international student programs (aimed at reducing their numbers, deemed too high by the last two governments). More importantly, it revealed a “serious concern,” as described by the Auditor General herself, within Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

According to the 52-page report (downloadable here: ag-202603-international-student-program-reforms), between 2023 and 2024, schools flagged over 153,000 potentially non-compliant students, but IRCC investigated only about 4,000 cases. In many instances, students did not even respond to requests for clarification, and the department conducted “limited checks.”

IRCC – according to the report – also failed to follow up on around 800 cases involving individuals who allegedly used fraudulent documents or provided misleading information after obtaining a study permit. Many of these individuals later applied for other immigration permits in Canada, which were often approved. Among them, 105 obtained permanent residence and 351 had their study permits or other temporary permits extended. The Auditor General called this lack of action by IRCC “a serious concern.” (the graphic below is from AG’s report)

Another major issue is that IRCC – according to the report – does not know whether students leave Canada after their permits expire. Of 549,000 people whose study permits expired in 2024, 93% were still authorized to remain in Canada, while 39,500 had no valid status; of these, only 40% reportedly left the country. Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab said she accepts the report’s recommendations and pledged measures to strengthen oversight.

Also today, the Auditor General, in a separate report, highlighted challenges facing the RCMP’s recruitment system, stressing the need for improvements to ensure the organization can attract and process candidates efficiently to meet operational requirements.

Finally, the Auditor General presented a report on issues related to the centralized management of federal public servants’ pay.

All the three reports can be read and/or downloaded here: https://www.canada.ca/en/auditor-general.html

In the pic above, Auditor General Karen Hogan (photo from the webpage of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada)