Thousands of international students miss fall semester amid uncertainty, visa delays [Video]

Thousands of international students expected to study at three Ontario colleges are missing the fall semester, after Ottawa announced it would further tighten Canada’s study permit system.

Some school officials are attributing the dramatic enrollment decline to a chilling effect created by the federal government’s policy, and to visa delays that have resulted from a stricter approach.

Glenn Vollebregt, the president of St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ont., said his college was expecting 1,600 new international students this fall, but only 775 are enrolled in courses.

“This is not normal,” said Vollebregt, who confirmed many of the students had trouble getting their visas on time, and the college has approved deferral requests for about one-third of the students.

“This is … a direct result of some of the federal policy decisions that we’ve seen take place.”

Ottawa announced in January it would cap international study permits in 2024.

Last month, …