Co-Chairs
Christopher Klinger: christopher.klinger@utoronto.ca
and
Stephanie Shaw: stephanie.shaw@utoronto.ca
Meetings
Monthly, as published in the GSU Digest. For further information, please contact the Co-Chairs.
Activities
International Students’ Day Celebration
November 2011
The International Students’ Caucus (ISC) commemorated International Students’ Day with an International Students’ Day Celebration at the GradRoom. Keynote speaker Dr. Heather Kelly of the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) talked about funding opportunities for international students and access to the SGS Emergency grant.
The Caucus also renewed its call for an UHIP stakeholders meeting with the goal to re-integrate international students, post-doctoral fellows and foreign academic workers into the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).
Airport Welcome Program for New International Students
September 2011
The International Students’ Caucus (ISC) is a proud partner of the City of Toronto’s Airport Welcome Program alongside the Colleges and Universities in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). When coming through
the doors into the international arrivals area at Lester B. Pearson Airport, international students will be greated with an International Students Welcome Booth.
Running from August 22nd to September 5th, 2011, the booth is there to make arrival in Toronto a little easier. It will be staffed by fellow international students from the GTA, who will have a welcome kit and
answers to immediate questions about transportation and life in the area.
OHIP for ALL
TORONTO, April 14, 2010 /CNW/ – Students delivered thousands of petitions today to Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long Term Care, calling for Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage to be extended to international students. While the Ontario government places a high priority on the internationalisation of post-secondary education and the economy, international students and postdoctoral fellows – alongside their dependents – have been excluded from OHIP since 1994.
“International students were excluded from OHIP coverage in 1994 and as a result, risk not being treated at Ontario hospitals,” said Hamid Osman, National Executive Representative of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario. “International students are forced to pay for an expensive private health insurance plan that only provides very limited emergency coverage, with no guarantee of health service in the case of an emergency if they cannot pay up front.”
The mandatory private health insurance plan has created barriers to accessing health care for international students in the province. “The private health insurance plan that international students are forced to purchase is not accepted universally by physicians, hospitals and clinics in Ontario,” said Lise de Montbrun, International Students Commissioner of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario. “Instead, these students and workers are faced with up front, out-of-pocket expenses and bills in excess of the OHIP rates because they are limited by their private health insurance plans.”
International students contribute more than two billion dollars annually to Ontario’s economy, yet they are not able to access full emergency health benefits from the province. “Despite the valuable contributions that international students provide to the province’s post-secondary institutions and economy, they don’t have the same access to the basic health care that the rest of Ontario residents have,” said Osman.
The petitions are part of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario campaign “Healthcare without Borders” and were signed by students from all regions of Ontario.
The Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario unites more than 300,000 college and university students at 37 students’ unions across the province, including domestic and international students at the college, undergraduate and graduate levels.
For further information: Hamid Osman, National Executive Representative, (416) 925-3825 or (647) 448-2823 (cell); Joel Duff, Organiser, (416) 925-3825 or (416) 707-0349 (cell)