N.B. ‘Open’ To Considering Financial Support For International Students
This is the third in a series about Covid-19’s impact on international students in New Brunswick. The series is also the focus of Huddle’s latest “Home Office” podcast, a conversation between editor Mark Leger and Inda Intiar, with sound clips from the people in Inda’s stories.
FREDERICTON – As many international students across New Brunswick have become stuck and cash-strapped, the province is encouraging them to fill job vacancies.
Post-secondary, Training and Labour Minister Trevor Holder says while many jobs were lost due to the pandemic, some jobs have been created too.
“I would encourage students to reach out to me, I would encourage them to reach out to our WorkingNB offices for the employment side. If they’ve got some financial challenges they can always reach out to their universities,” he said. “What I would say is in terms of financial aid going further, certainly we would be open to that if there’s a need.”
Some international students have criticized their exclusion from the Canada Emergency Student Benefit. And while some qualify for EI or the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, many don’t because they’re too new, they make just over the $1,000 per month threshold for qualifying, or the made less than the minimum $5,000 needed to qualify in the last year, among other reasons.
PART ONE: International Students Cash-Strapped And Trapped Amidst Covid-19 Crisis
The various forms of emergency funds from the provincial government, universities and community groups have helped. But with around 900 foreign students at UNB alone, many of whom have said they face housing and food insecurity if the health crisis continues, student groups say they need more assistance.
The provincial government had previously provided an emergency bridging fund for vulnerable post-secondary students. The one-time aid of up to $750 was distributed by universities and colleges.
Years before Covid-19, New Brunswick had also allowed full-time international students with a valid study permit to access medicare, though they still have to pay for international health insurance with their tuition. During the pandemic, however, the province has extended coverage for emergency benefits for students whose visa has expired.
Holder says conversations with the federal government regarding Covid-19 aid are also ongoing.
“One of the challenges we’ve had is that the federal government, quite frankly, it’s hard to get an indication from them in terms of what they’re going to do next. We’ll start to make plans and then we find out, on any given day, that they were going to announce something,” Holder said.
He says the province continues to meet with universities, colleges and settlement agencies and is “certainly open” to taking more steps to help international students if the need arises.
“I’m not opposed at all to looking at other actions at the provincial level as well. Having said that I would encourage all students and international students, in particular, to reach out to our WorkingNB offices to see what could be available from a student employment perspective,” he said, adding the provincial government continues to support FutureReady and other experiential learning programs.
New Brunswick universities aren’t the only ones busy finding ways to support its students during the pandemic.
Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia has been hailed for its success in attracting international students, having tripled its foreign enrollment between 2017 and 2019.
In a Public Policy Forum online panel Tuesday, CBU President David Dingwall says some of the things he’s considering to help foreign students through the new normal include enhancing summer job programs, many of which exclude international students; offering a modest level of financial assistance; and boosting the entrepreneurial focus for immigration.
“Yes, we need people in the fish plants. Yes, we need foreign workers. But we need entrepreneurs who are going to create jobs,” he said.
Memorial University President Vianne Timmons says during the pandemic, she’s seen a “real serious impact” on international students, who make up about 19 percent of the student body.
The university held a fundraiser with the community to help students in need, foreign and domestic. They raised over $150,000, much of which went to help pay rent and groceries for international students, she said.
Universities As A Catalyst For Immigration
As international students are a key pillar for New Brunswick’s immigration strategy, and a significant contributor to its economy, Holder says the possibility of having fewer of them coming in the fall is concerning.
“Right now we have a business model for our universities that’s very much contingent on the attraction of international students and quite frankly, we need to do that if we’re going to grow our population going forward,” Holder said.
“I have pushed the universities in this province in the last 18 months since I’ve been in this role to ramp up the number of international students they’re attracting and they’ve risen to that challenge right across the board.”
He says conversations with Public Health, Public Safety and WorkSafe NB have started last week so universities can get ready for September.
“I wanted to make sure that our universities going into September has everything at their disposal in terms of what they need to know from a safety perspective, so that we can get all of that in place ahead of time and bring as many international students as absolutely possible,” he said.
He says if New Brunswick is successful in flattening the Covid-19 curve, it could add to the province’s advantage in attracting students.
“We need to keep working hard on making sure that that curve remains flattened from a public health perspective so that we can attract more people than ever before. I think it’ll be a significant part of our story in terms of New Brunswick being an attractive place to come to live to work and to study,” Holder said.
PART TWO: Losing International Students Would Have A Huge Impact On N.B. Campuses
Jane Taber, the VP of National Public Relations, called universities a “catalyst for immigration” when she led the PPF panel as many foreign students stay and settle in Canada after they graduate.
Deputy Immigration Minister Catrina Tapley said in a PPF panel before Taber’s that with international education bringing over $21-billion into Canada’s economy, the industry is “a big deal” for the country and for Atlantic Canada. Foreign students are also “part of the path forward” for growing immigration.
“The reliance on immigration for labour force growth…that hasn’t changed,” Tapley said of immigration in pandemic times.
Dingwall says what attracts foreign students is not a certain region, but “the promise of Canada.”
“When I go to China, Vietnam, Singapore, India, it’s the promise of Canada, the rule of law, our human rights, our environment, our respect for people of different views, our medicare system, are all prominent in the minds of various people throughout the world,” he said. “It is that promise of Canada that becomes very, very attractive.”
However, the exclusion of international students in programs like the CESB is tarnishing that image for some.
“I feel as international students we contribute so much to the economy and not being able to gain some form of support from the government…It’s almost like we’re on our own, we have to fend for ourselves in this unprecedented time,” St. Thomas University student Sydona Chandon, who comes from Jamaica, told Huddle.
Although Canada is the third most popular destination for international students, and the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program have helped attract more of them to Atlantic Canada since 2017, the retention record is mixed, says PPF Fellow Sean Speer.
Speer, an assistant professor of Public Policy at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, said what he’s learned from researching international student retention in Atlantic Canada is that the efforts have to be holistic.
“This cannot be a top-down model. We have to think about these students as students, as siblings or spouses. We have to have a model that engages governments, the business community and the non-profit sector,” he said.
“The ultimate way to get people to choose these communities as their permanent home is to build a holistic set of supports around them. I think Atlantic Canada is doing that better than anyone else in the country right now,” Speer added.
Attracting and retaining students is important as the region sees a quickly aging population and challenges to fill job vacancies. Universities, and the international students it brings, are critical in that effort, in addition to boosting cultural diversity in Atlantic Canadian cities.
“Universities…are bringing a critical mass of talented, dynamic and entrepreneurial people to our communities. Sometimes they’re coming to urban centres, but sometimes they’re coming to regions that are facing demographic or economic challenges,” Speer said.
“They’ve been the door to our country for these students and now the rest of us need to step up holistically and support our post-secondary institutions in helping these people ultimately choose these communities,” he said.
Podcast: International Students Share Struggles They Face During Covid-19