This is the excellent title of Andrew Petter’s Vancouver Sun article explaining how recent federal education policy has been undermining universities throughout Canada. The subheading is similarly right on:

A new report from Canada’s auditor general reveals that the federal program represented as a measured effort to reduce international student numbers instead produced a shockwave — destabilizing post-secondary institutions, damaging Canada’s global reputation and hitting B.C. particularly hard.

Both my former home and my current one have been hit hard, with very large layoffs (more seem to be on the way, alas).

This country’s international student program [had] been a quiet success story — supporting institutional excellence, strengthening communities and projecting Canadian values abroad. …

The dramatic rise in international enrolments during the past decade was no accident. Federal and provincial governments actively encouraged it. Federally, international students were seen as drivers of economic growth and a vital source of future skilled labour. …

The auditor general’s findings reveal a program rollout that was deeply flawed. What was represented as a measured effort to reduce international student numbers instead produced a shock wave — destabilizing post-secondary institutions, damaging Canada’s global reputation and hitting B.C. particularly hard.

Here’s the Auditor General’s troubling report in full: