The Education-Immigration Nexus: Situating Canadian Higher Education as Institutions of Immigrant Recruitment

A policy shift in the mid-2000s established a pathway between international study and immigration to Canada. Designed to facilitate the settlement of young, highly skilled, and Canadian-trained workers, these pathways are premised on the conception of international students as ideal immigrants. Yet, because higher education institutions enjoy wide latitude when it comes to selecting and admitting international students, this education-immigration nexus has gained scholarly attention and sparked an immigration and settlement debate. What are the implications of having an uncapped temporary foreign worker stream administered by higher education institutions? What are the downstream effects for graduates, employers, and communities as the higher education sector accepts greater numbers of international students every year? What does this mean for the composition of Canadian immigration in the longer term? This paper will highlight the importance and relationship between study, labor market access, and immigration to Canada, consider the roles and responsibilities of higher education institutions in multi-step pathways to immigration, and discuss implications and future strategies which acknowledge the reality of this education-immigration nexus.