Should I stay or should I go? Rural international students face housing, job crunch

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Brandon Dickson, PhD Candidate, Global Governance, Balsillie School of International Affairs, University of Waterloo

From 2013-23, Canada’s international post-secondary student population more than doubled to more than one million per year by 2023.

Most of these students studied in Ontario, particularly in urban areas. But the high cost of living in urban areas across Canada, along with limited enrolments, meant there was a subsequent spike of international students also studying in rural regions across Canada.

Our research is exploring the supports that currently exist for international students in rural regions and the efficacy of these supports for retaining international students in those areas.

Recent cap on international students

In 2024, the federal government put a cap on the number of international students in Canada.

Ottawa framed the move as an attempt to alleviate housing shortages and protect international students from “bad actors,” including people who issued fraudulent acceptance letters.

A CBC investigation also found that governments have pursued international students to contribute to Canada’s workforce and also to attract revenues for underfunded colleges and universities — with no attention paid to the impact on housing.

The impact of the international student cap has reverberated across Canada. It resulted in a sharp decline in international students across the country, including in rural regions where there is an enduring need for skilled graduates in health care, technology and the skilled trades.

Rural retention of international students

There has been very little Canadian research on rural retention of international students, aside from retaining graduates with health-care skills.

Our exploratory survey, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in partnership with the Canadian Bureau of International Education, was piloted in a rural region in Atlantic Canada.

The survey asked international students who were attending or had graduated from the local university questions about their intention to stay in their study region after graduating, and factors that influence their decisions.

In total, 21 students completed the survey, and three of these students participated in a follow-up interview. We also interviewed two people who worked in international student support roles in the same region.

Housing insecurity was a determinant

Our preliminary findings show that housing security was the among the most significant factors driving international students’ decisions to stay or go in their rural region.

Students in our survey said finding suitable housing was one of the biggest challenges. Half of the respondents noted that lower housing prices were the most influential factor in their initial decision to study in a rural region. However, frustration with finding long-term accommodations posed significant challenges in choosing to stay. In some instances, this also affected even coming to begin studies in the first place.

One student noted they had to move three times between the summer of 2023 and October 2023 due to being unable to find suitable housing when they first arrived. They cited this stress as the key reason they were planning to leave the rural region.

Another international student said the lack of accommodations meant they almost had to cancel their acceptance, noting they signed their lease only a few hours before their flight to Canada. More than one-quarter of our study participants who were planning to leave the rural region noted the lack of housing as the key driver.

Unique rural employment challenges

More than one-third of international students in our survey initially planned to stay in their rural study region following graduation, but employment impacted this decision.

While for international students, the challenges of finding work post-graduation are widespread across Canada, participants in our study region noted unique challenges in rural areas.

Rural regions are often close-knit communities that rely on these ties when seeking employment, so much so that one of our research participants noted: “When locals meet each other, they’ll go, oh, who’s your father?” For international students, the more limited connections they have in communities correlates with the level of difficulty securing jobs.

Support programs

The Maritime rural region in our study had employment-related programming for recruiting, integrating and retaining international students. These include programs like one-time seminars on job searching or developing resumes, and longer internship opportunities.

Though international students in our survey unanimously noted that they knew such services existed, only three said they had accessed the programming. Those three students commented that these programs increased their sense of belonging and connection in the community.

One international student indicated that the connection from the community program resulted in post-graduation employment. The three students who accessed this programming said the most beneficial supports they accessed were immigration support, career advising and volunteering opportunities.

One interviewee who works in an international student support role described how one “study and stay” program receives far more applications from interested international students than it can accommodate. This provincially supported Atlantic Canada program provides tailored supports beyond the more general employment supports noted above.

Policies made staying complicated

Survey and interview findings also revealed that federal policies complicated efforts to stay in the rural region post-graduation.

One of the support people we interviewed noted how international students who want to stay in Canada often seek Express Permanent Residence, which requires a two-year, full-time employment contract.

Such an employment requirement is often incompatible with the short-term or part-time options available to students and new graduates.

This means international students are less likely to accept work in their fields, and may be required to move to urban areas or accept unskilled positions to find employment to meet these criteria.

Co-ordinated responses needed

We heard from international students that they want to stay and feel committed to rural regions. At the same time, students highlighted the challenge of transitioning from being a student who has access to university supports to being a community member without them.

Addressing housing and employment challenges requires co-ordinated responses in rural regions among universities, local government and industry.

Community-based supports that help recent graduates secure first jobs and offer opportunities for connection and networking are critical. Creative engagement is required across industries, sectors and the federal government to address federal policies for longer-duration work permits. For housing, incentivizing international student residency for landlords and local regions might help.

Housing and employment security appear to be the preliminary foundations for establishing and capitalizing on social and community connections. More research is needed to explore the successes in retaining international students and activating effective supports to do so.

Donna Kotsopoulos receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Ellyn Lyle receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Brandon Dickson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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