Canada should better track foreign student departures: criminologist

OTTAWA — A Canadian criminologist who once worked on inland immigration enforcement for the Canada Border Services Agency says Canada needs to better track foreign nationals who arrive in the country on student visas.

Kelly Sundberg, a professor at Mount Royal University, says it does not surprise him at all that Indian law enforcement agencies are investigating links between Canadian colleges and a scheme to ferry international students across the Canada-U. S. border.

India’s Enforcement Directorate said on Tuesday it had uncovered evidence of human trafficking after probing the Indian connection to a family that died in a frigid winter trying to cross the border from Manitoba into Minnesota in 2022.

Neither Public Safety Canada nor the RCMP would comment on the allegations Friday, which have not been proven in court.

Sundberg says Canada needs to collect biometric data of people coming to Canada, tie that to immigration documents, and have a way of determining when people leave the country.

These latest allegations land as Canada is making major changes to its immigration system, including significant cutbacks on the number of student visas it issues.

At an immigration committee meeting last month, the Conservatives asked how Canada tracks international students if they leave the country.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller said the vast majority of people on temporary visas, including students, leave once their visa expires. He said there is work to do to curb asylum claims from international students.

The problem of people crossing into the U.S. illegally has also become a thorn in the Canada-U.S. relationship ahead of the return of Donald Trump as president next month.

Trump has threatened steep tariffs on all Canadian goods if Canada doesn’t do more to end illegal border crossings and the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2024.

-With files from Dylan Robertson

David Baxter, The Canadian Press