International students look to Canada for an opportunity to access one of the top ranked countries for higher education in the world. Unfortunately, Canada’s excellent reputation is being used by governments and institutions to recruit more and more international students to fill the gaps in funding with inflated and predatory tuition fees.

UNREGULATED, UNPREDICTABLE, UNFAIR.

In BC, as in most of Canada, international tuition fees are unregulated and can increase at any time, with no notice. Domestic student tuition fee increases are capped at 2% annually under the BC government’s Tuition Fee Limit Policy. Meanwhile, tuition fees for international students in BC have increased by 64% since 2006.

Due to government underfunding, institutions have come to depend on the revenue they receive from increasing fees for international students. However, unpredictable fees make budgeting impossible, meaning some international students are forced to leave Canada before completing their studies.
Download our backgrounder to learn about international students in British Columbia.

IT IS TIME FOR FAIRNESS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

We are calling on the BC government to amend the Tuition Fee Limit Policy to include the regulation of fees for international students. This would create fairness, consistency, and predictability for international student tuition fees.

The Federation has published a comprehensive research document about international students in British Columbia. The document explores the history of international education in the province, the current reality of funding and fees, and the pitfalls of the province’s current strategy (or lack thereof) on international student recruitment.

To learn more about the campaign and how you can get involved, contact your local students’ union.