Foreigners get Canadian student visas and don't enroll in universities
Statistics Canada tried to figure out what commuters do in Canada.
Statistics Canada has released a study on those who come to the country on a student visa. It found that almost a quarter of those who receive a study permit do not end up enrolling in Canadian institutions.
Approximately 717,300 people were enrolled in higher education in 2019. Of these, 24% (172,152 people) did not enroll in post-secondary education. There could be several reasons for this — including not coming to Canada at all. However, according to Longitudinal Immigration and the Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS), 54% (93,822) of these non-enrolled students eventually came to the country and pursued other activities.
What are they doing in Canada?
48% of the non-enrollees had a work permit in addition to their study permit — and at least a third were working full-time. About 72% of those who worked were employed in three industries:
- accommodation and catering services (22%);
- wholesale and retail trade (31.2%);
- business support services, construction and other support services (17.1%).
The specifics of the most popular industries signal that at least some of these workers chose to work part-time. This means that they may not have had a separate work permit, but rather used the opportunity to work part-time up to 20 hours per week that a study permit provides.
The Statistical Office only has data on enrollment in state-funded universities. It is impossible to say how many authorized students end up studying in private institutions.
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