After years of promoting Alberta as a destination for global talent, student leaders say the province now appears to be sending a very different message.

After Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s comments during her Address to the Province seemingly went against previous planning and recommendations, including Alberta 2030 and the Mintz Expert Panel, Calgary university students are calling on the premier to rethink her plan for international students.

Tala Abu Hayyaneh, Students’ Association of Mount Royal University (SAMRU) Representation Executive Council President, found the Premier’s recent comments surprising.

“What really stood out to me (from the address) is the scapegoating of certain groups,” she said.

“International students have been under a lot of pressures in the last few years, whether it’s through the federal government, cuts to international student numbers, the different restrictions on visas, the program restrictions that we’ve seen in the last few years, international students continuously get framed as burdens on our systems, as people who are not complying with different rules of society systems, which is completely untrue.”

In her address, Smith said that Canada’s responsible immigration policies, like those under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, constrained international immigration to manageable levels.

“Then came Justin Trudeau’s disastrous open border immigration policies, which have caused an unprecedented strain on our health care, education and other social programs,” she said, adding that Trudeau’s policies deprioritized skilled workers and focused immigration efforts on international students, temporary workers and asylum seekers.

“Although sustainable immigration has always been an important part of our provincial growth model, throwing the doors wide open to anyone and everyone across the globe has flooded our classrooms, emergency rooms and social support systems with far too many people, far too quickly.”

With her newest announcements, Smith is veering from the government-funded, researched, and made-in-Alberta 2030 strategy, Abu Hayyaneh said.

“The strategy calls for strengthening internationalization as a core role to ensure that Alberta students graduate with global skills and competencies. Having that global classroom be part of our reality as Alberta students means that we need to have our international students’ parents right beside us,” she said.

As a step towards a diverse workforce and population, the province needs students from various backgrounds and interests to work, learn and study in Alberta, according to Abu Hayyaneh.

“If you do a Google search right now about international students in Alberta, one of the first things that will pop up is how international students are being viewed in Alberta, especially when it comes to the political provincial context. If I’m an international student thinking about which province am I going to pour my hard-earned money into to be able to study in, I might not select Alberta. If anything, it may be my last choice,” she said.

Currently, SAMRU is urging the government to recommit to the Alberta 2030 strategy, in which Alberta’s aim was to transform the province’s post-secondary system into a top destination for international talent, while expanding opportunities for every Albertan student and driving economic growth and innovation, according to a SAMRU-issued release.

Rhetoric concerns shared across town

Mateusz Salmassi, a recent UCalgary grad who served in the school’s Students’ Union as VP External and was an international student, said that until recently, international students have been seen and used as a provincial cash-cow.

“They’re price-gouged for tuition, suffer higher rates of housing insecurity, are more likely to be exploited while working, and they’re hungrier. That’s the thanks we give them for contributing $2 billion annually to Alberta’s economy and subsidizing domestic tuition and provincial grants,” he said in a statement.

“(International students) have gone from a get-rich-quick-scheme to another scapegoat. I had hoped this would die down after the federal government capped study permits, but Premier Smith needed someone else to kick around.”

Students’ Unions will be some of the only organizations that will defend international students, Salmassi said. Without change, all post-secondary students will suffer.

“While the province attacks international students, domestic students’ learning conditions continue to deteriorate. There needs to be a collective response from the student body on every campus.  Universal student supports such as expanded grant eligibility, more affordable student housing and investments into on-campus services are what the province should focus on,” he said.

“The only people who will defend international students from this government are students’ unions. If they don’t join the fight, expect all Albertans to suffer.”

In a statement shared with LWC, the University of Calgary Grad Students’ Association, (UCGSA) echoed SAMRU and Salmassi’s concerns with the current provincial rhetoric, saying that international graduate students don’t want their contributions to Alberta to be forgotten.

“We’re concerned about any rhetoric that underplays the essential role international students—and particularly international graduate students—play in Alberta’s economy. Our international members are cutting-edge researchers, teachers, and entrepreneurs: They’re at the forefront of UCalgary’s quantum computing efforts, are essential in educating undergraduates, and frequently partner with—and often even start—highly competitive businesses,” the statement reads.

“We’re afraid her (Premier Smith’s) comments gloss over this.”

A recent survey conducted by UCGSA shows funding remains the most glaring issue among students. Opportunities to increase stipends would have a major impact on talent acquisition and retention, the statement says.

“We’ve had positive discussions around this with the Alberta government, so hopefully we can continue to have those discussions post-budget.”