CIMM – Opening Remarks – April 20, 2026

Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration
Auditor Generals Report on the International Student Program

Ted Gallivan
Deputy Minister, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship

Ottawa, Ontario
20 April 2026

5 minutes (~477 words)
Check against Delivery

Thank you, Chair, for the invitation to appear on the Auditor General’s report on the International Student Program.

This audit sought to confirm the reforms initiated by the department to the student visa program. The reforms began in 2023, with a four‑year implementation plan.

The Auditor found clear evidence of improvements resulting from these reforms:

• Fewer student visas issued and a decrease in new arrivals.
• The acceptance letter verification system was effective at detecting and preventing fraud.
• The cancellation of the Student Direct Stream reduced our over-reliance on particular countries and reduced fraud.

However, the report also identified a number of failures in the program, making six recommendations.

We have moved to address these recommendations based on the earliest reports of potential fraud, with a focus on strengthening the program’s integrity.

To enhance program integrity, we have

• implemented a cap on the International Student Program, and worked continuously with provincial and territorial partners to allocate quotas
• increased the cost-of-living threshold to reflect living expenses in Canada
• introduced requirements for a new study permit when transferring schools
• added new penalties for non-compliant learning institutions
• changed off-campus work hours per week, and
• cancelled the Student Direct Stream, which had a high rate of fraudulent activity

Flagged cases

The Auditor’s report highlighted that there were over 153,000 cases flagged for potential non-compliance in 2023 and 2024.

There is an important issue here, but not as significant as 153,000 cases. As outlined in the report

• over three in four (or 78%) were students who were compliant because they had
  • transferred schools
  • transitioned to another immigration status, or
  • sought asylum
• just under one in four (or 22%) are presumed to have left the country
  • That said, we acknowledge that some within this group may have overstayed the duration of their permit.

But that 22%—or 33,600—where we didn’t know their departure status is not acceptable.

To address these cases

• we’re reviewing all cases identified by the report from 2023 and 2024, and flagging potential fraud to individuals files where warranted
• we’re creating a process to regularly confirm whether students have left
• This will enable enforcement action as needed—as recommended by the Auditor’s report.
• We’re following up on all cases identified as potentially non-compliant from 2025.

Conclusion

International students here on visas form an important talent pool that contributes to our future labour market. For these students, IRCC’s role is to make sure the rules are followed, and to facilitate their status to come to Canada.

The OAG rightly pointed out that during the period that during 2023 and 2024, we weren’t there yet. But we’re working on addressing all the issues identified.

IRCC needs to ensure that the rules are followed. And—at the same time—that the program works to attract the students we need to support our economic and labour market needs.

Thank you. I welcome your questions.