Business leaders in B.C.鈥檚 capital city say the new cap on international student visas requires a serious rethink.

The federal government鈥檚 recent decision to temporarily slash visas by more than one-third came amid concerns a stark rise in international student numbers is putting pressure on Canada鈥檚 housing system.

But Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce CEO Bruce Williams argues there are other ways to deal with the housing crisis that don鈥檛 include a cap.

鈥淲e think that the better solution is to build more housing on campus,鈥� Williams said in an interview.

He pointed to Camosun College having no student housing while the University of Victoria has a multitude of residence options.

鈥淯niversities are allowed to carry debt and incur debt for things like housing, but community colleges are not,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淪o that needs to be examined.鈥�

The chamber said in January it was following up on concerns expressed by local post-secondary schools facing a serious and unanticipated financial burden from the international student program cap.

The University of Victoria is planning budget cuts for the 2024/2025 school year and it cited the decreasing international student enrolment as the primary cause. Four per cent of the university鈥檚 operating budget could be axed, which amounts to about $13 million.

Although the budget has been announced, UVic said 鈥渋t is too early鈥� to determine what areas will be impacted by the cuts.

Ultimately, Williams鈥� biggest concern is the long-term impact on Canada鈥檚 economy.

鈥淭he problem with this is that we need to create a workforce and post secondaries create the skills to create a workforce,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have a huge demand for workers right now and immigrants, which includes international students, (the feds have) taken that all away.鈥�

The federal cap also aims to crack down on post-secondary intuitions that collect high fees from international students and offer a poor education in return. Those schools garnered harsh words from federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller during his January announcement.

鈥淚t is not the intention of this program to have sham commerce degrees or business degrees that are sitting on top of a massage parlour that someone doesn鈥檛 even go to and then they come into the province and drive an Uber,鈥� Miller said.

The cap is also being allocated based on each province鈥檚 population. That provision strives to make it so jurisdictions like B.C. and Ontario don鈥檛 get to accept more students than they can handle while smaller provinces end up with enrolment shortages.

Williams suggested that intuitions should be audited to keep them in check.

鈥淭here are colleges in Canada that have an inordinate number of international students, which is a major source of revenue for them, which also means that these visas are going to them and they鈥檙e now being evenly distributed across the country.鈥�

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