John McCallum pledges to make immigration easier for international students

Federal Immigration Minister John McCallum saysthe government will be looking atways to make the immigration process easierfor international students.

"International students are the best source of immigrants, in the sense that they're educated, they're young, they speak English or French, they know something of the country," he said. "So we should be doing everything we can do tocourt them."

• International students changing makeup of Maritime university courses

• Nova Scotia launches immigration stream aimed at international students

• Racist comments frustrate international students in Nova Scotia

His comments could have significant implications forNova Scotia, which welcomesthousands of international students each year and has been pushing hard to attract more immigrants.

International students in Nova Scotia

Saint Mary's University says more than a quarter of its students come from other countries. Dalhousie University says 14 per cent of its 18,000 students are international, whileCape Breton University is home to nearly1,000 international students.

Jimena Prado is from Mexico andis studying immunology and microbiology at Dalhousie University.

Asa member of the Dalhousie International Students' Association, Pradosays many international students want to stay in Nova Scotia after graduation, herself included.

"A lot of us are young and want to start our lives here. So I think that would be a really good thing and it would open a lot of opportunities for all of us," she said.

McCallum told CBC Radio's Mainstreetthe government is looking into different options to facilitate students becoming permanent residents.

Citizenship difficult through current system

He said the existing Express Entry System makes it difficult for students to gain permanent residence.

The Express Entry system is a computerized program that matches students with potential employers, butmany students have been rejected by the program because it prioritizes immigrants who are skilled workers.

The system was introduced on Jan.1, 2015, by the previous Conservative government; before that, it was a straightforward process for international students to apply for permanent residence.

McCallum saidthe federal government will work with provinces on ways to reform the points-based system.

Reforms yet to be determined

Those reforms may include increasing the number of points an applicant for permanent residence gets simply by virtue of being an international student.

It could also mean decreasing the number of points applicants gain for receiving a permanent job offer, since students often struggle to get job offers that have government approval.

Although the exact nature of the reforms have yet to be determined, McCallum saidthe federal government recognizes the importance of encouraging international students to stay in the country.

"The bottom line is that we definitely want to be more welcoming to international students and we will have more concrete proposals in the not too distant future," he said.