Auditor General Flags Gaps in Student Visa Monitoring

OTTAWA, Ontario — Canada's Auditor General Karen Hogan released a report on Monday revealing significant gaps in the monitoring of international students, including insufficient investigations into potential noncompliance and inadequate tracking of those whose visas expire.

The audit examined the International Student Program managed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and found that approximately 150,000 cases were flagged between 2023 and 2024 for possible violations of study permit conditions, such as students not attending their designated academic institutions. However, IRCC initiated only about 4,000 investigations during that period. Of these, 1,600 were deemed inconclusive because the students did not respond to outreach attempts, a process that typically takes six months and involves two contacts per case.

Department officials informed the auditor that funding limits them to roughly 2,000 investigations annually through 2028. Among the completed probes, 1,400 confirmed students were attending the correct schools, while 50 identified noncompliance requiring further action. An additional 915 investigations were canceled, and 37 remain ongoing. The...