It appears as if Yukon University might not be hit as hard over Ottawa’s announcement it is capping international students’ admissions to Canadian post-secondary institutions as others in the South.

Aisha Montgomery, the associate vice-president of university affairs, spoke to the Star Wednesday about the news.

She also relayed a statement from university president Lesley Brown.

“At this time, we do not have specifics on how this decision will impact Yukon University, but we are doing everything we can to learn more,” Brown’s statement said.

“We are in contact with MP Brendan Hanley’s office and officials at the Department of Education with the Yukon government.

“We will be working closely with both of these offices make sure the impact on Yukon University is minimal.

“We hope to have more to say in the coming days,” Brown added.

Montgomery added a bit more information to that statement.

YukonU has 122 full-time international students and 19 part-time international students.

“This cohort makes up approximately 15 per cent of our total enrolment, which reflects YukonU’s board of governors-approved target for international enrolment,” Montgomery said.

“We hope it won’t impact us, but we don’t have confirmation yet.”

It’s a different story in other parts of the country.

Universities in Atlantic Canada say Ottawa’s move to temporarily cap international admissions risks undermining the work done to make the region an attractive higher-education destination for foreign students.

“We have a real concern about the reputational harm that this decision will have on international students’ perception of how welcome they are in Canada, and in our part of the country in particular,” Peter Halpin, executive director of the Association of Atlantic Universities, said in an interview Tuesday.

He said international students represent about 30 per cent of the enrolment at the 16 universities in Atlantic Canada, compared to about 20 per cent across the country.

They also play an important role in regional immigration.

About 56 per cent of international students who study in the region stay in Atlantic Canada two years after graduation, Halpin said.

Natalia Tola, deputy chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students and a former international student from Ecuador, said Monday’s announcement from federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller came as a shock.

“It really goes beyond disappointment; it goes beyond anger,” Tola, a Halifax resident, said in an interview Tuesday. 

“And yet now when the situation has reached a point of crisis, the solution that we see is cutting international enrolment when these are students who bring so much to the population.”

Miller announced on Monday that new visas for international students will be cut by more than one-third this year as the federal government tries to slow a rapid increase in temporary immigration, which has put pressure on Canada’s housing system.

The minister said the two-year cap will give federal and provincial governments time to address some bad actors that have taken advantage of the student visa system. The number of new visas handed out this year will be capped at 364,000, down from the nearly 560,000 issued last year. 

International students pay considerably higher tuition fees than Canadian students, and the gap between the two groups has widened in recent years. 

For the 2022-23 academic year, Statistics Canada reported that international undergraduate students paid an average of $36,123. That’s 429 per cent more than tuition fees for domestic students.

The Council of Ontario Universities says the newly announced cap on international student admissions is unfairly punishing responsible institutions alongside bad actors in the post-secondary sector.

Steve Orsini, president and CEO of the organization, is calling on the federal government to reverse its decision to cap the number of new study permits it issues over the next two years.

He says many universities are already in perilous financial situations and capping international student enrolment will add more strain on their budgets. 

“We think a more refined, targeted approach would be better policy and not impact the good performers that rely on that funding or revenue from international students to operate,” Orsini said in an interview.

Orsini said the federal government should take a more careful approach and go after institutions that are not taking in international students responsibly.

Quebec’s three English-language university has double the problem when it comes to international students.

In 2023, Premier Francois Legault’s government ordered substantial hikes to these students’ tuitions – leading to plummeting application rates at McGill and Concordia in Montreal, and at Bishop’s in Quebec’s Eastern Townships.

Justifying the measure, a minister said at the time too much English is being spoken in downtown Montreal.

– With files from Canadian Press