Canada has been one of the four most favourite destinations for students from India. The other three are US, UK and Australia. Over 72 per cent of Indian students who go to Canada aspire to get a post-graduate work permit, while about 60 per cent aspire to get a permanent residence in Canada. In 2022, it was estimated that there were 2.26 lakh Indian students, which constituted around 40 per cent of all international students in Canada. As of 2023, there were approximately 330,000 new immigrants (including students) from India living in Canada. Canada has been encouraging immigration as this provides a steady stream of skilled labour that can be super-exploited.
In recent times, students from India are facing a lot of challenges in achieving their objectives of education and employment in Canada.
Housing shortage
One of the problems faced by new students from India is the difficulty in finding affordable accommodation. A severe shortage of affordable housing is reported in provinces like Ontario and British Columbia, where there are maximum number of universities and colleges. House rents in have been steeply rising. In the last seven years the cost of housing and rents have more than doubled. Currently government data reports a shortfall of 3.45 lakh housing units. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation predicts a housing shortage of over 35 lakh units in the near future, i.e., 10 times the current shortage. Most of the private colleges do not have sufficient dormitories for students because of which students are forced to look for rental accommodation. It should be kept in mind that till last year foreign students were required to invest around Canadian Dollars (CAD) 10,000 under the Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC). GIC is a guarantee that the student has to provide to the government that they have funds to cover their living expenses for one year. With rising rents, students are finding that the returns from GIC is not even sufficient to pay for their rents and they are left with little to pay for their food and other expenses. Most of the students from India had to take a loan to fund their education and are on shoe-string budgets to meet their housing and food needs. This forces many of them to live in very unhealthy and even dangerous conditions.
The situation is so bad that it has been reported that Indian students who had recently landed in Canada were going around residential neighbourhoods in Ontario’s Kitchener area, lugging their bags, pressing doorbells to know if there is any space available to be rented out. The web edition of India Today magazine has given the example of 6 students sharing a basement of a house and having to pay CAD 600 to 650 per month as rent (equivalent of Rs.35,000-40,000 at Rs 61 to a CAD). Some students have been reported to have been living in a car as they are not able to afford a rented accommodation at all.
Rising cost of education
The tuition fees charged by colleges to international students are three to five times higher than what the resident Canadians have to pay. In private collages, the fees are more than CAD 10,000 per month (i.e., more than Rs. 6 lakh per month). Students used to be able to partially fund their expenses by taking up part time work (mini-jobs). Now it is becoming very difficult to find work. A social media post that went viral showed 600-700 students waiting in long queues for hours outside shops and restaurants, just to apply for a possible part-time job. Lack of job opportunities and the tough challenges due to high cost of living are taking a toll on the mental condition of the students.
Adverse changes in rules
As if these problems were not enough for the Indian students in Canada, the Canadian government has doubled the GIC to CAD 20,635 from December 2023. The economic downturn in Canada and the resulting rise in the rate of unemployment has made the prospects of Indian students finding even part time work very bleak. Moreover, many provincial governments are changing the rules about work permits after the students complete their education. For example, in the eastern province of Prince Edward Island (PEI), permanent residence will now be given to new immigrants only in a few selected fields of work such as healthcare and primary education. This effectively has meant that most of the Indian students graduating from colleges in PEI will be denied permanent residence. There is also tightening of rules about extension of study and work permits and many Indian students will be forced to leave Canada after completing their education. Most of the students had planned to earn some money to repay their education loans by working in Canada but now their prospects of doing so are becoming very dim.
The Indian students in PEI have decided to fight against these changes of rules by the provincial government. They are demanding that the rules of visa extensions and work permits should not be changed in the middle of their academic program. They are demanding that the same rules should be applicable to them that were in force when they got their study permits. They also want extension of their work permits and that restrictions imposed by the government last December with regard to getting permanent residence not be applicable to them. In May of this year students demonstrated and went on a strike outside the Provincial Assembly. After more than a week of their strike, they withdrew the agitation after getting assurances from the government officials that their demands will be looked into. However, seeing no action on part of the government for months, they are planning to restart their agitation.
It is the severe unemployment in India that drives many students to go to other countries to seek better employment opportunities. However, with the deepening capitalist economic crisis throughout the world and the insatiable drive of the capitalists to maximise their profits at all cost, the uncertaintities facing our youth are only going to increase.