Theological schools hit by international student rules intended for diploma mills, larger institutions

 — June 12, 202512 juin 2025

Between 2014 and 2024, the proportion of students of European descent at Montreal Diocesan Theological College (often abbreviated as Dio) went from about 60 per cent to 25 per cent, says the Rev. Jesse Zink, the school’s principal.

“We have been moving in a direction that’s much more diverse along lines of immigration status, country of origin, racial, and ethnic identity. And I would just say, I think this is wonderful,” he says. “I was teaching a three-hour class last week. We took a break, and I noticed that students were having little side conversations during our break, and there was one that was happening in English, and there was one that was happening in French, and there was one that was happening in Swahili.”

Dio is one of many schools in Canada that have expanded the diversity of their student bodies, especially by recruiting more international students. Many post-secondary institutions have made a strategy out of expanding their international student recruitment to profit from the higher tuition they are able to charge them. But Zink and the other theological school administrators the Journal interviewed for this story say they charge international students little more than domestic ones—and do not make them a significant part of their mainly donation-funded financial strategy. But since the federal government last year rolled out changes designed to curb what it considers over-reliance on international students in Canada’s post-secondary system, these religious institutions and their students have found themselves bound by regulations aimed at schools that do.

Read the rest of this article in the Anglican Journal

In January 2024, the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced it would be capping the number of new international student permit applications for 2024. That was a reduction of about 35 per cent from the number issued the previous year. It further established individual caps for each province and territory based on their populations and the rate of growth they had shown in international student admissions over the previous years. A press release at the time said this would “result in much more significant decreases in provinces where the international student population has seen the most unsustainable growth.”

Then-immigration minister Marc Miller has couched these measures in terms of protecting international students from “bad actors”—schools that grant effectively fake degrees to profit from international students—amid the context of an immigration system in need of reform. He has also said he was concerned some international students use these schools as a back door into working in Canada.

“Basically, people are working during the week, doing some [school] work on the weekend and then getting perhaps a three-year ability to work in Canada and hoping that they’ll be able to stay here,” he told the CBC. The number of schools of this kind, which he referred to as the educational equivalent of puppy mills, had exploded in the past few years and it has now likely reached the hundreds, he said. “This has become big business and you have a lot of players trying to make a quick buck out of this.”

A press release accompanying Miller’s announcement added that the measures were intended to protect the integrity of Canada’s immigration system while ensuring students are only brought in if they have access to the resources they need to succeed. However, at a press conference in September of that year he told reporters the pace of immigration in Canada had changed and its immigration system was seeing new threats, as reported by the Toronto Star. There was an untenable number of people wishing to move to Canada, he said.

Much of the national conversation surrounding immigration has centred on the housing crisis and whether there are enough places for existing and new Canadians to live.

While the initial slate of changes applied only to undergraduate students, additional changes introduced in the fall of 2024 altered the terms of the cap to include post-graduate students as well. They also reduced the cap for 2025 by a further 10 per cent, added language requirements to the eligibility criteria for post-graduation work permits and restricted the granting of work permits to the spouses of students studying in Canada.

As neither one of Miller’s “bad actors” nor a large university, Zink says, Dio does not stand to benefit financially from increased numbers of international students. On paper it charges a tuition differential for international students, he says, but this is offset by the school’s tuition waiver policy, which equalizes tuition for students coming from a list of provinces in the Anglican Communion where there are fewer resources for theological education and where students are less likely to be able to afford tuition.

“We care about our students,” says Zink. “If we admit them and they’re here, we want to see them succeed. And that means not just academically, but it means in life we want to help them succeed for however long they’re going to be in Canada.”

As a result of this, and because the school was already navigating Quebec’s two-level provincial and national approval system for international students, Zink says, the initial changes did not have a serious impact on the school. But when the changes to spousal work visas came down, he says, they began to see students decide they could not make the financial arrangements of studying in Canada work. A December 2023 change, which doubled the amount of money students must prove they have to pay for cost of living on top of tuition from $10,000 to $20,635, has further reduced the number of students who can afford to come to Dio.

The Atlantic School of Theology (AST), located in Halifax, has seen a drop in the number of its international applicants, says academic dean Susan MacAlpine Gillis, but it has seen a drop, from six or seven last year to only two this year. Like Dio, AST has been predominantly geared toward postgraduate education, but in 2023, it introduced a Bachelor of Theology program. Speaking to the Journal in early April, she said applications to its B.Th had surpassed those to its M.Div program this year—but that no international students had applied.

Nova Scotia’s rules require AST to charge international students more in tuition than Canadians, says the school’s president, the Rev. Heather McCance, but the school equalizes the difference with bursaries for international students taken from the school’s donated funding. International students are therefore not a significant factor in AST’s finances, she says. But the few who come do bring valuable enthusiasm and perspective from parts of the world with a very different cultural relationship to religion.

She tells a story about one student from Nigeria who is a permanent resident—not technically an international student, but still an example of an international perspective in the classroom, she says.

“He was talking to people about how surprised he was that the Canadian church is shrinking when in Nigeria, of course, the Anglican church is growing,” she says. That seemed to challenge classroom assumptions about the global context of Christianity and the possibilities for the church’s future, she says. “So I’m really glad that we have folks like him in the class to be able to ask those questions.”

While AST receives some government funding, it has primarily been supported by donations, making it less reliant on trends in public funding than schools tied to major universities, she says. She recalls that as the government reduced funding to post-secondary education—a trend which has continued since the 1980s, according to a fact sheet from the Canadian Federation of Students—it encouraged schools to seek international students as a way of shoring up that funding. Wycliffe College, meanwhile, is tied to a major educational institution that does receive public funding, the University of Toronto. The larger school had already made some adjustments to its reliance on international students after Ontario imposed cuts to the maximum tuition schools could charge them, and the new restrictions stand to continue that trend in Wycliffe’s parent school. As a result, says Wycliffe’s registrar, Jeffrey Hocking, the cap on international students does have an impact on Wycliffe as well. While Wycliffe isn’t primarily looking to backstop its budget with fees from international students, who make up about a quarter of the school’s roughly 200 students, he says, it did make a difference that their tuition was able to rise with inflation. Currently, a domestic student pays about $8,000 a year in tuition, compared with $28,000 for an international student.

The exact impact of the latest changes, which now affect the school’s postgraduate programs, has yet to be seen, says Hocking. Last year, the school admitted 17 international students, and this year it admitted 12, he says. The cap for the school year starting September 2025 is set at seven, he says, though he doesn’t think it’s likely it will have even that many. Early in the year, international interest in Wycliffe seemed to be surging, which Hocking attributes to events south of the border. But since word got out about the caps, he says, there has been a sharp drop in applications.

The loss of guaranteed work permits for students’ spouses, for whom Wycliffe usually keeps several campus jobs available, has also impacted interest, he says.

Hocking thinks international students have been unfairly scapegoated for the housing crisis in Canada. The policies are therefore unfair, in his opinion, and overlook what international students bring to classrooms in Canada.

“So it hurts the college more than just more than one way,” he says. “I would say it hurts our overall educational quality, and it also hurts our ability to function as a community together.”

The Rev. Richard Topping, president and vice-chancellor of the Vancouver School of Theology (VST), says the new policy will mostly mean more work for the school’s admissions committee. In British Columbia, as in several other provinces, the caps are being administered by means of a provincial attestation letter (PAL) system. The province gives the school a limited number of the letters, which they then give to applicants based on their evaluation to recommend them to the federal government for approval. This happens before the final decision is made on allowing them into the country, meaning the school must do its best to pick candidates who are most likely to be approved and most likely to follow through and show up in the fall.

VST has not seen a major dip in interest from prospective international students, he says. The fact that its recruitment officer is from Indonesia, where many of its international students come from, may be helping. The school also hired a legal counselor to give a seminar on how to navigate the admissions process. In fact, he says, while the PAL system has required more comprehensive vetting of each student on the admission committee’s part, it has streamlined other things, like post-graduate and spousal work permits, as they are now both included in the PAL process. Previously, these things were less straightforward due to VST’s status as a non-provincially-accredited school. Nor is Topping concerned about the number of attestation letters the school has been allocated; he says this number seems to have been allotted fairly, based on previous years’ admissions, and to have been well communicated to the school.

“I think it’s a lot about consumer protection,” he says of the new policies. He alludes to concerns about schools that have allegedly been taking advantage of international students, bringing them in to go through subpar programs or without sufficient housing or resources available to live on. “Just because a person is from another part of the world doesn’t mean the same standards don’t apply when it comes to how you treat them.”

VST deliberately recruits international students, who pay the same tuition as domestic students and make up around 20% of its student body, he says, because the school wants to cultivate a relationship with the global Christian community. The ability to share stories and ideas from across the Christian world provides the intercultural competency VST is aiming to instil in its graduates, he says.

Hocking and Topping both estimate that about half of their schools’ international students end up staying to work in Canada, while the other half return to their home countries to apply their education. McCance and Zink did not provide firm numbers for their schools, but both said some students stay, while others return home. None gave any suggestion that their school’s international students were using study in Canada primarily as a path to immigration.

Posted: June 12, 2025 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=14605
Categories: Anglican JournalIn this article: Government of Canada, migration, theological education
Transmis : 12 juin 2025 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=14605
Catégorie : Anglican JournalDans cet article : Government of Canada, migration, theological education


Pope Leo XIV greets participants of a symposium in Rome

At Ecumenical Symposium, Pope Leo XIV Says Catholic Church Open to Universal Easter Date

 — June 7, 20257 juin 2025

“Several concrete solutions have been proposed that, while respecting the principle of Nicaea, would allow Christians to celebrate together the ‘Feast of Feasts,’” the Holy Father said.

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday said the Catholic Church is open to establishing a common date of Easter among all Christian churches, echoing one of the aims of the Council of Nicaea that met 1,700 years ago.

The Pope spoke to participants of the symposium “Nicaea and the Church of the Third Millennium: Towards Catholic-Orthodox Unity,” which took place this week at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

The Holy Father called the 325 Council of Nicaea “foundational for the common journey that Catholics and Orthodox have undertaken together since the Second Vatican Council.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

<em><a href='https://ecumenism.net/archive/ccc/2025_CFW_Towards-Wellbeing_EN.pdf' target='_blank'>Towards Wellbeing: Mental Wholeness in Church, Person, and Community</a></em> (Canadian Council of Churches, 2025)

Explore a New Ecumenical Resource on Theology and Mental Wellbeing!

 — June 3, 20253 juin 2025

The Commission on Faith and Witness of The Canadian Council of Churches invites you to explore Towards Wellbeing: Mental Wholeness in Church, Person, and Community — a new ecumenical study guide designed for faith communities.

Developed through rich dialogue among 14 Christian traditions in Canada, this resource offers

  • deep scriptural and theological grounding in the Christian understanding of the human person
  • practical insights for ministry, pastoral care, and community life
  • engaging questions for small group discussion and personal reflection

… Read more » … lire la suite »

<em><a href='https://ecumenism.net/archive/ccc/2025_CFW_Atteindre-le-bien-etre_FR.pdf' target='_blank'>Atteindre le bien-être : l'intégrité mentale pour soi, la communauté et l'Église</a></em> (Conseil canadien des Églises, 2025)

Découvrez une nouvelle ressource œcuménique sur la théologie et le bien-être mental!

 — June 3, 20253 juin 2025

La Commission Foi et Témoignage du Conseil canadien des Églises vous invite à découvrir Atteindre le bien-être : l’intégrité mentale pour soi, la communauté et l’Église, un nouveau guide d’étude œcuménique conçu pour les communautés croyantes.

Née d’un dialogue de qualité entre 14 traditions chrétiennes au Canada, cette ressource offre

  • un ancrage scripturaire et théologique profond dans la conception chrétienne de la personne humaine,
  • des idées pratiques pour le ministère, la pastorale et la vie communautaire,
  • des questions engageantes pour les échanges en petits groupes et la réflexion personnelle.

… Read more » … lire la suite »

Representatives from 16 world Communions gathered in Assisi, to discuss the development of a common liturgical celebration focused on creation

Common liturgical celebration focused on creation explored at conference in Assisi

 — June 3, 20253 juin 2025

Representatives from 16 world Communions gathered in Assisi from May 5-7, to discuss the development of a common liturgical celebration focused on creation. This included the Anglican Communion, Baptist World Alliance, Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran World Federation and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Christian traditions have a yearly cycle or liturgical year, with different seasons and events, including feasts and holy days. They commemorate important aspects of Christian history and theology.

The ecumenical dialogue in Assisi explored whether a new liturgical feast of creation could be developed and celebrated across a number of Christian calendars. It was a continuation of discussions that were held in Assisi in 2024.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Lady Elish Angiolini was appointed by King Charles as the Lord High Commissioner of the Church of Scotland's 2025 General Assembly

Roman Catholic represents King Charles at the Scottish General Assembly

 — May 20, 202520 mai 2025

A news story last Saturday announced that a Roman Catholic had been appointed to represent King Charles at the Scottish General Assembly. This would seem to be a very strange story from a Canadian perspective. Canadians hold a variety of opinions about the role of the monarchy, but we don’t expect the monarch to be part of the decision-making bodies of our churches. This is just one of the interesting aspects of having a “national” or established church that we have not experienced in Canada.
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Pope Leo XIV greets Patriarch Bartholome of Constantinople during an audience with ecumenical guests on the day after the inaugural Mass of of his papacy

Pope reaffirms commitment to ecumenical, interreligious dialogue

 — May 19, 202519 mai 2025

During a special audience with religious leaders who came to Rome for the inauguration of his papal ministry, Pope Leo XIV vowed to continue working towards Christian unity and promoting dialogue among all religions.

“Now is the time for dialogue and building bridges,” the pope said May 19 as he met with the leaders in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace.

His guests included Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, and Catholicos Awa III, patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, as well as Anglican, Methodist, and Lutheran leaders. Representatives of the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, and Jain communities also attended.
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Pope Leo XIV greets Patriarch Bartholome of Constantinople during an audience with ecumenical guests on the day after the inaugural Mass of of his papacy

Pope Leo’s address to representatives of other churches and religions: Full text

 — May 19, 202519 mai 2025

With great joy, I extend my cordial greetings to all of you, Representatives of other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, as well as of other religions, who participated in the inaugural celebration of my ministry as Bishop of Rome and Successor of Peter. I express fraternal affection to His All Holiness Bartholomew, His Beatitude Theophilos III, and His Holiness Mar Awa III, and to each of you, I am deeply grateful for your presence and prayers, which are a great comfort and encouragement.

One of the strong emphases of Pope Francis’ pontificate was that of universal fraternity. In this regard, the Holy Spirit really “urged” him to advance with great strides the initiatives already undertaken by previous Pontiffs, especially since Saint John XXIII. The Pope of Fratelli Tutti promoted both the ecumenical path and interreligious dialogue. He did so above all by cultivating interpersonal relations, in such a way that, without taking anything away from ecclesial bonds, the human trait of the encounter was always valued. May God help us to treasure his witness!
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Posters made by Jewish artists in the 1700s to mark the inauguration of popes are displayed in the Jewish Museum of Rome in this file photo. Jews have lived in Rome since long before Christ was born, and for decades they were required to participate in ceremonies to mark the enthronement of a new pope

Pope pledges strengthened dialogue with Jews

 — May 13, 202513 mai 2025

Among his first messages, Pope Leo XIV expressed his intention to strengthen the Catholic Church’s ties with the Jewish community.

“Trusting in the assistance of the Almighty, I pledge to continue and strengthen the church’s dialogue and cooperation with the Jewish people in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration ‘Nostra Aetate,'” the pope wrote in a message to Rabbi Noam Marans, director of interreligious affairs at the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

Promulgated 60 years ago, “Nostra Aetate” affirmed the Catholic Church’s spiritual kinship with the Jewish people and condemned all forms of anti-Semitism.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

A view of the crowd gathered for the funeral of Pope Francis. The photo was taken from among the ecumenical delegation to the left of the altar

Through papal funeral, Christ proclaimed living Saviour for all

 — May 12, 202512 mai 2025

I thought that travelling to Thursday Island in the Torres Strait was a big trip to make when I responded to Bishop Keith Joseph’s invitation to preside at the Easter services at the Old Cathedral of All Souls and St Bartholomew this year. Little did I realise that just a few days after Easter I would receive a request from the Anglican Communion Office to be part of the Anglican representation at Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome the following weekend.

Planning had to proceed quickly, and I flew out on the Wednesday on flight legs that added up to around 24 hours in the air before arriving in Rome on the Thursday afternoon. Our delegation, led by the Primate of Brazil, Archbishop Marinez Bassotto, assembled at the Anglican Centre, Rome before we were taken to St Peter’s Basilica to pray where Pope Francis’ body lay in state in an open coffin.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Pope Leo XIV appears on the loggia in St. Peter's Basilica after his election as the 267th pope and bishop of Rome

WCC congratulates Pope Leo XIV

 — May 8, 20258 mai 2025

The World Council of Churches (WCC) extended ecumenical greetings to Pope Leo XIV and an assurance of continuing engagement with the Roman Catholic Church in the era of its new pontiff.

WCC moderator of the central committee, Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, expressed joy and hope. “As successor of Pope Francis, he will move in a strong tradition,” said Bedford-Strohm. “I expect him to continue Pope Francis’ witness of love towards all people, especially those most vulnerable, and of love for nonhuman creation.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »