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[00:00.43] Canada recently announced a two-year limit on the number of foreign students given permission to study in the country.

[00:11.59] The move is partly to ease a growing housing shortage.

[00:17.43] Reuters news agency recently reported on some of the details of the plan:

[00:25.14] Marc Miller is Canada’s immigration minister.

[00:30.71] Miller said the government led by the Liberal Party of Canada will introduce a temporary, two-year limit on student visas.

[00:42.93] That will result in about 364,000 student visas in 2024.

[00:52.49] The government said that is a cut of 35 percent from the year before.

[01:00.46] The new proposals will also set limits on postgraduate work permits issued to foreign students.

[01:10.29] The new limits will likely cause many postgraduate students to return to their home countries.

[01:19.59] The permits were formerly seen as an easy path to securing permanent residency.

[01:27.56] People in master’s or post-doctoral programs will be eligible for a three-year work permit.

[01:38.98] However, people who are married to foreign students in undergraduate and lower-level college programs will no longer be able to receive work permits.

[01:53.06] The acceptance of new study permit requests in 2025 will be reconsidered at the end of the current year, Miller said.

[02:06.07] Canada has become a popular place for international students.

[02:12.45] It has been easy to receive work permits after finishing study programs in the country.

[02:21.21] But the increase in international students has led to a shortage of rental homes.

[02:29.18] This has caused the price of rent to go up.

[02:33.70] In December, the cost of rent nationwide rose 7.7 percent from a year earlier, government data shows.

[02:46.18] Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s popularity has decreased partly because of increasing living costs.

[02:56.81] Opposition Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has taken a lead over Trudeau in public opinion studies.

[03:07.70] Elections are expected to be held next year.

[03:13.02] The government has also been concerned about the quality of education offered by some schools.

[03:22.31] Canada’s government says international students bring in about $16.4 billion to the nation’s economy.

[03:33.73] The new policy will hurt many colleges and universities.

[03:39.31] Ontario, the most populous area, or province, has the biggest share of international students.

[03:49.67] Some businesses, including restaurants and retail industries, have warned that a limit on foreign students will create a shortage of temporary workers.

[04:04.28] For example, restaurants across Canada are dealing with a worker shortage.

[04:11.98] It is estimated there are nearly 100,000 available jobs.

[04:18.89] International students made up 4.6 percent of the 1.1 million workers in the food service industry in 2023, an unnamed industry group told Reuters.

[04:35.35] Canadian banks will gain from the new rules for international students.

[04:40.93] Each student will be required to have a Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GIC) of more than $15,000.

[04:55.54] The amount is required for international students to be able to cover living costs.

[05:03.25] The new GIC is more than double the amount from the earlier policy.

[05:10.42] Many of Canada’s foreign students, about 40 percent, come from India.

[05:17.85] China coming in second with about 12 percent, official data from 2022 shows.