Demonizing foreign students sidesteps solutions to Canada’s problems

When political leaders, media outlets and think tanks frame international students as the main source of societal woes, they miss the opportunity to fix underlying problems. (Shutterstock)

Throughout 2024, international students, along with other immigrants, found themselves on the receiving end of blame for Canada’s economic challenges. Starting with the Jan. 22 announcement of a cap on international student numbers, Canada’s growing political theatre of scapegoating has cast international students as responsible for taking jobs, straining the asylum system, driving up housing costs and increasing pressure on health care.

This kind of blame doesn’t just alienate international students; it demonizes them too. It risks exacerbating everyday discrimination, threats, violence, and even sexual exploitation and human trafficking. In December, University of Regina international students said four men in a car shouted racist insults at them, threatened to shoot them and threw coffee at them.