Canada has a troubling habit of creating policy that unintentionally harms its own interests. Decisions are often made to address legitimate concerns, but without sufficient attention to their wider economic and social consequences. We have seen this in inter-provincial trade barriers, restrictions on resource development, and most recently in federal policy limiting international student enrolment in Canada’s post-secondary system.

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Most recently a rushed policy limiting immigration was launched amid significant political pressure during the federal election cycle. It has been maintained even though the devastating impact on jobs, schools and industry quickly became evident. The policy, which led to severe cuts in the number of international students that could attend universities and colleges in Canada, was putatively introduced to address rental market pressures, to limit excess migration levels and perhaps to curb bad actors in the education system.

While few will argue that more care was needed in reviewing the policies under which international stakeholders came to Canada, or in scrutinizing the educational providers to ensure quality and authentic support for students, the reality is that the suddenness and bluntness of the introduced changes had the effect of devastating huge swaths of the economy, and precisely at a time when Canada was under enormous threat from outside actors, not least from our largest trading partner.

At a time when the labour market was struggling, the policy change has led to thousands of Canadians losing their jobs — as professors, lab techs, enrolment officers, counsellors, campus ministers, and so many others — at a speed and scale that has resulted in massive demands on our social services and the closure of key spaces and campuses (many of which are the lifeblood of rural communities). And while some housing markets experienced easing rental pressure following the decline in international student numbers, the suddenness has meant that rather than carefully regulating rents or increasing housing availability, it has resulted in massive losses for property owners large and small, and jobless renters unable to afford housing.

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There is a reason that Canada’s post-secondary system was so popular with foreign stakeholders. Canada is a safe, fair, dynamic society that is the envy of the world. Our universities and colleges are second to none, with high standards, an impeccable international reputation, and extraordinary staff and faculty that genuinely help students (domestic and international) to transform their lives. This is especially true in our Catholic colleges and universities. Unfortunately, the changes introduced have not worked to safeguard quality. They were imposed with such speed that no institution could safely and fairly respond, leading to unprecedented job losses, but also an impact on quality. Programs have been cancelled, athletic programs have been cut, and resources pared to the bone in some institutions. Support for domestic students was largely bolstered by the international student revenue, which enriched quality and programming for both.

Changes to the post-secondary system were no doubt needed; but these should have been done in an intelligent, researched and gradually introduced manner, allowing the system to prepare to pivot, to realign resources, and to protect Canadian jobs and opportunities. Countries like Australia recognized that changes needed to be done to their post-secondary system, but they were brought in slowly, and on an institution-by-institution basis, recognizing that not all institutions are the same. This nuanced approach, however, lays some of the responsibility on the government to effectively review and manage change. The current blunt policy instrument allows them to say change was made, to absolve themselves of responsibility, and to move on to the next headline with little to no accountability.

As a result of the federal changes, caps to the number of international students were hurriedly assigned across the country forcing provincial governments, with equally little notice, to distribute these places to the institutions in their jurisdiction: colleges and universities that are literally the economic anchors for many communities. Invariably and perhaps not unreasonably, the caps were distributed to favour the public institutions, and then in diminishing order according to size, to the private colleges.

An even more concerning, and completely unneeded change, prevents international students who are accepted into one institution from changing to another unless they go through an entire reapplication process. Not only does this approach trap international students in one place that they may find unsuitable once they arrive, but it also penalizes them financially.

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Because the changes were introduced with reckless speed, little in the short term can be done to salvage the thousands of Canadian jobs, businesses, and homes that have been lost. But for those in power who genuinely want to champion our educational quality, to celebrate Canadian industry, and to help us restore our reputation, we could begin by walking back some of the excessive changes to the current immigration policies, by at least respecting international student flexibility to move through the system once they’ve been vetted and accepted, and to invest in our post-secondary system, including in the private colleges, many of which are not-for-profit and genuinely work to serve learners, local and international. Devastating harm has been done to our post-secondary system, but it need not be irreparable. We can only hope our government heeds the call.