A panel of politicians in Canada has been told that prospective international students from French-speaking African countries are facing higher visa refusal rates than applicants from other countries.
They have been warned that these higher refusal rates are having detrimental impacts on the international student recruitment efforts in addition to potentially damaging Canada’s reputation as a welcoming place to study.
Speaking to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, the president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Bureau for International Education, Larissa Bezo, said that since 2016, more than 500,000 qualified students had visa applications rejected.
She said high refusal rates are a problem that has increased in recent years and is growing, particularly prevalent for applicants from African and Francophone Africa.
On his part, President of Universities Canada, Paul Davidson, said high visa refusal rates among priority markets, particularly in Francophone Africa, is an urgent challenge the country needs to address.
He indicated that while average approval rates for Canada’s largest international student source countries is around 80%, with some reaching 95%, students from Africa face the highest refusal rates.
Statistics from 2019 suggested that three in four applications from African students were rejected, and more recently African education agents have alleged bias over low Canadian permits approval rates.
Davidson added that a collaborate effort was needed to tackle the issue.
The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations said that fundamental changes are needed, including an increase in IRCC resources.
Chair, Christian Fotang said “International students of both official languages face many other barriers when applying for study permits, the process continues to be extremely onerous for any young adult unfamiliar with the Canadian immigration system to understand”.
Bezo noted that the country must be mindful that these failures of process do not end up being interpreted by potential international student candidates as failures of respect adding that the reputational risks for Canada brand are significant.
Refusal rates are high in some target countries despite the aim of diversifying markets in the country’s international education strategy, she highlighted, a point also emphasised by Francis Brown, director of international at Fédération des cégeps.
He said there are inconsistencies between the visa denials and other government initiatives. Québec for example invests close to $50 million promoting the province to international students and on scholarships for them.
He told the committee it is essential that the processing of study permits be equitable, fair and transparent for all individuals, regardless of their country, language or level of education.
According to immigration lawyer at LJD Law, Lou Janssen Dangzalan, the reasons for the “troubling trend” among African countries is a “mystery”.
He however, suggested that the fact that visas are not processed in-country with the majority from the region being processed in Dakar or Dar es Salaam – could have unintended consequences.
Dangzalan suggested that in-country processing could mean decision makers are more attuned to the realities on the ground.
Witnesses also said it was unclear whether Chinook is the reason for refusal rates increasing, asking for IRCC to release more data.
The problem with increased refusal rates goes beyond African applicants.
The study permit refusal rate for India increased from 34% in 2018 to 57% in 2020. Others have pointed to India, Mexico, Colombia where the number of refusals have also peaked.
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