Assessing Canada’s Support of International Students A Comprehensive Review of Canada’s Retention and Settlement of its “Model Immigrants”

The aim of this research paper is to present the findings of an extensive literature review related to barriers international students experience transitioning to employment and permanent residency in Canada. International students who wish to work in Canada temporarily have difficulty receiving employment because of limited co-operative education opportunities and a lack of professional networks. The lack of settlement services, the numerous complexities of immigration policies, and the minimal awareness among students hinder the process for these individuals to immigrate to Canada permanently. These realities hold significant policy implications for the federal and provincial levels of government because Canada continues to admit educated and skilled labour in order to address national priorities such as long-term labour shortage and population decline. International students, especially those who hope to secure employment and permanency in Canada, are an attractive population, given the Canadian education and social capital they have received upon completion of their studies. This report will also provide a comprehensive review of several best practices and policy suggestions in addressing the challenges described above. Additionally, I will offer some practical recommendations for those involved in this transition process. In section I, a brief overview of policies related to the retention of international students is presented, and in Section II, I provide the findings of more than twenty fundamental research studies representing a diverse group of students from all levels of study, nationalities and gender studying in different regions of Canada. Section III reviews policy suggestions in research literature related to settlement support for international students. Finally, I provide practical recommendations informed by research and based on evidence-based results.