Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he doesn’t want to see international students the taking places of local applicants at Ontario medical schools, claiming he wants to put local applicants first.
At an event on Wednesday, where the premier re-announced plans for a medical school in the Greater Toronto Area, Ford was asked about struggles retaining medical graduates in the province.
“That is my number one pet peeve,” Ford replied, suggesting many Ontario students are also struggling to find domestic places and heading off to the Caribbean, Ireland and Australia to study.
Ford said he had been told that roughly 18 per cent of students at Ontario colleges and universities are international students.
“Get rid of the 18 per cent,” Ford said. “I’m not being mean, but I’m taking care of our students, our kids first.”
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After the story was published, Ford’s office clarified the premier was only talking about medical schools and not colleges and universities …