What's being done to make sure the growing number of International Students don't fall through the cracks after coming to Windsor for higher education?
That's what a network of policymakers, educators and service providers are trying to figure out with a series of workshops and discussions.
"We want to see what is the role of educational institutions in nation-building? They are bringing on a lot of international students and that impacts the overall long term demographics in Canada," said Reza Shahbazi with the New Canadians’ Centre of Excellence. "The other thing is the resilience and support for international students. In Canada, they are not eligible for many services that are funded by the Federal or Provincial government and we want to explore ways to see how we can help them."
According to Building Migrant Resilience in Cities (BMRC) Windsor City Network the proportion of international students at the University of Windsor has grown 100 per cent over the last seven years while the proportion at St. Clair College has grown 1000 per cent in the last three.
While these students are offered a number of supports on campus, but there are concerns that the supports offered aren't keeping up with the number of students.
"We've been somewhat overwhelmed, and originally the thought with an international student was that they would come here, study and they would go home and now it's different. They want to study, but that's actually a means to an end they want to move to Canada," said Dr. Francine Schlosser from the University of Windsor.
The struggle then becomes the supports end once they get their degree and they lack the network of support that domestic students often have after they are done school.
According to Schlosser, many students struggle with housing, transportation and food security.
"There's a gap in the middle between being a permanent resident and an international student... that is not filled. They need supports that are off-campus, as much as they need them on campus," said Schlosser.
The network is holding a number of workshops and discussions to figure out what is needed, where it's needed and how it can be developed.