**Police give update on 39-year-old Ghanaian shot dead in Toronto
The requirements for post-graduation work programme (PGWP) for international students have been amended by the Canadian government, Starnews NG can report.
The new changes took effect from February 15, 2024, according to a release on the country website.
Here’s an overview of changes that may impact international students planning to study in Canada:
The number of study permits being approved in 2024 is expected to decrease by 35 per cent over 2023 to 360,000. The cap for 2025 will be decided at the end of 2024.
IRCC will allocate the cap across provinces and territories based on population proportionality of each province. Provinces and territories will then be responsible for distributing the allocation among DLIs in their jurisdiction.
All study permit applications submitted to IRCC starting 22 January 2024 will require an attestation letter from a province or territory. Provinces and territories have until 31 March 2024 to establish a process for issuing attestation letters to students.
Beginning 1 September 2024, international students starting programs under a curriculum licensing arrangement, that is, where a private college has been licensed to deliver the curriculum of an associated public college, will no longer be eligible for post graduate work permits upon graduation.
Graduates of master’s and other short graduate-level programs will soon be eligible to apply for a 3-year work permit. Under the current criteria, post graduate work permits (PGWPs) are issued based on the duration of the individual student’s program of study. The exact date this comes into effect to be announced.
Open work permits will no longer be made available to spouses of international students, unless the student is enrolled in a master’s program, a doctoral program as well as some professional occupations programs of study. The exact date this comes into effect to be announced.
The following groups are exempt from the cap:
Changes to Spousal Open Work Permit eligibility:
Only spouses of international students enrolled in master’s, doctoral, and professional programs will be eligible for open work permits.
Updated cost-of-living requirements for students:
Starting January 1, 2024, international students will need to show they have at least $20,635 (previously $10,000) to cover their living expenses (the requirement is different for students moving to Quebec).
Two people shot in north Toronto were attacked ‘indiscriminately’ — police
In another development, two people who were shot at the same intersection in a northwest Toronto neighbourhood in less than a day were innocent victims who were attacked “indiscriminately,” police said Tuesday.
Investigators said that while they can’t rule out the possibility the attacks last Friday and Saturday were related to gang violence, there is no evidence the two people shot – one of them fatally – were in any way affiliated with gangs or “anything of that nature.”
The two victims also have no connection with each other or the suspect, they said.
“We believe these two victims were shot indiscriminately,” Det. Phil Campbell said at a news conference. “One person is dead and the other has had their life altered forever.”
Supt. Andy Singh said it’s important to note both of the victims were just going about their day when they were attacked.
“They were completely and utterly innocent, which is a big part of what has caused alarm in this community,” he said.
No arrests have been made but police have released a photo of a suspect and said they found a stolen black Acura linked to the attacks in Hamilton.
The first shooting took place around 6 p.m. Friday when a 16-year-old boy was waiting for the bus alone on his way to a volleyball game, police said.
He was shot in the face, police said, and remains in critical condition with “potentially life-altering” injuries.
On Saturday afternoon, a man was shot while walking by a bus stop at the same intersection, police said. In that case, investigators have said he was shot three times – twice in the stomach – and later died in hospital.
He has now been identified as Adu Boakye, a 39-year-old man from Ghana who police said came to Toronto last November to support his family.
Mr. Boakye was a father, an uncle, a nephew and a son,” and leaves behind a wife and four kids, Campbell said.
Police said the shots were not fired from a vehicle, but rather by someone who approached the victims.
“This offender and/or offenders took it upon themselves to carry out violence, and whether that violence could be gang-related … that is a possibility,” Singh said.
He said the incidents have traumatized not only the victims’ families, but the community at large.
This was brazen, it was during the daylight hours, and that’s why we want to bring this person to justice fairly quickly,” he said.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said her office is in contact with police and city crisis response workers are available to check in with residents and provide counseling.
“The residents of this neighbourhood, many families with children, deserve to know they will be safe waiting at a bus stop or walking down the street,” she wrote in a statement.
Residents of the neighbourhood have said the shootings have left them feeling uneasy, with some even opting to avoid taking the bus for some trips.
Police have ramped up their presence in the area of Jane Street and Driftwood Avenue as they investigate the shootings, and are asking anyone with information on what happened to contact them.
Credit: Global News
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