2026 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada – International Student Program Reform
Good morning, Madam Chair, and thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee today to discuss our report on reforms to the International Student Program, which was tabled in March of this year. I would like to begin by recognizing that we are on the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. With me today are Gabriel Lombardi, the principal responsible for the audit, and Erin Jellinek, the director who led the audit team.
In this audit, we looked at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s implementation of reforms to the international student program. These reforms were intended to manage growth and strengthen integrity controls. Overall, we concluded that while the department reduced the number of new study permits issued, it fell short in other key areas.
In 2024, the department issued just under 150,000 new study permits. This was well below the forecast of almost 350,000. Some provinces, particularly those with smaller populations, were disproportionately affected. For example, Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan were both expected to see a 10 percent increase in approved new study permits compared to the previous year. Instead, both experienced a decrease of at least 59 percent.
The audit found critical weaknesses in the program’s integrity controls. Although the department introduced a new tool to verify acceptance letters and had processes to identify potential fraud and student non-compliance, it did not effectively investigate or follow up when risks were flagged.
For example, in 2023 and 2024, designated learning institutions identified over 153,000 potential cases of non-compliance with study permits, but the department investigated only about 4,000 of them. Most cases could not be closed because students did not respond to the department’s requests for more information.
Further, the department’s fraud detection activities identified 800 cases of fraud after permits were approved. No follow-up occurred on these cases. In most instances, individuals went on to apply for other immigration permits while in Canada. More than half of those applications have since been approved.
Our audit also identified an opportunity for better collaboration with the Canada Border Services Agency. We found that the immigration department did not collaborate with the agency to identify whether students with expired permits had left Canada. Using the immigration department’s available data, we worked with the Canada Border Services Agency and found that only about 40% of the 39,500 students required to leave in 2024, had in fact left the country.
Ultimately, the department needs to act on the information it already has to address integrity concerns in the program, including collaborating with the Canada Border Services Agency. This is equally important once students are in Canada and applying for additional permits.
Madam Chair, this concludes my opening remarks. We would be pleased to answer any questions the committee may have. Thank you.