Two Windsor West candidates weigh in on influx of international students
Two of the three major provincial party candidates in Windsor West think that more international students in our post-secondary schools is a good thing, but that those students need to be supported.
This week, CBC News reported that St. Clair College has more than 3,000 international students enrolled for the summer semester, and expects that number to approach 5,000 by the fall.
The influx has made it challenging for some international students to find adequate housing, and Transit Windsor has experienced overcrowding on buses servicing the college.
"I think it's fantastic that we're seeing so many international students coming, because they could go anywhere in the country, they could go anywhere in this province," said Windsor West NDP candidate Lisa Gretzky. "But they choose to come to St. Clair College because they know that they're going to get a good quality education there."
"I think it's exciting that our city's becoming more and more diverse every day," said Windsor West PC candidate Adam Ibrahim. "At the same time, we need to make sure these students find jobs after they finish."
Windsor West Liberal candidate Rino Bortolin did not return our calls.
"We need to find ways to help the students when they come here accommodate their needs, and at the same time get established," said Ibrahim.
Gretzky said there needs to be a joint effort.
"I think it's incumbent on the municipality and the college — and, frankly, the province — to educate these international students on their rights ... that they have rights as tenants, that they have rights as residents of those cities, and they shouldn't be afraid to speak out if they feel that something is not safe for them."
The college's vice president of International Relations, Training & Campus Development, Ron Seguin, said enrolling students from abroad has allowed them to "deal with what I would call a flatlining of our domestic enrolment."
"It comes with growing pains," added Seguin. "This is a large population increase in a short time. I've got a large number of students living away from home for the first time.They're negotiating transportation. They're negotiating buying textbooks, and negotiating college systems all for the very first time."
RM Kennedy is chair of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) college faculty division. She said that all of the colleges in the province have had a "fairly dramatic" increase in their international student enrolment, "largely, I think, to make up for funding shortfalls."
"Internationalization is great for Ontario's colleges," said Kennedy. "But you can't just accept students and take their money. We have to make sure they have the supports they need to be successful."
The provincial Liberals recently released the "International Postsecondary Education Strategy 2018."
The strategy indicates that international students currently make up more than 15 per cent of all students enrolled in post-secondary education in Ontario, and it estimates that by 2022, that number will at be at 20 per cent.
St. Clair's fall semester estimate of 5,000 international students would bring their ratio to 35 per cent.
