The College of New Caledonia along with the Chambers of Commerce in Quesnel, Vanderhoof, Mackenzie and Prince George are not in favour of Ottawa’s decision to restrict international students from finding work after graduation.
In a joint news release, the groups believe the new federal rules allow international students at universities to automatically qualify for a postgraduate work permit.
However, for international students graduating from CNC and other colleges across B.C., a postgraduate work permit if Ottawa will only be received if there is a labour shortage in the sector applicable to the completed program.
“On one hand, the federal government has a rural immigration program to encourage new Canadians to live and work outside of the major metropolitan areas but then it sets policy that steers international students to more expensive universities in the big cities, rather than programs at regional colleges like CNC,” the Chambers stated.
“International students graduating from CNC programs should be able to qualify to work in north-central BC as easily as international students graduating from UBC or the University of Toronto.”
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce will be voting this week on three policy resolutions related to this issue.
Neil Godbout, executive director of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce, and Ron Camp, the Prince George Chamber’s advocacy committee chair, are at the Canadian Chamber AGM to support these resolutions and represent the Prince George business community and their fellow Chambers across north-central B.C.
“The Canadian Chamber represents 400 Chambers and more than 200,000 businesses across the country,” Godbout said.
“Adopting policy recommendations like these and advocating for their implementation by the Government of Canada supports the further development of our regional economy.”
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