By Nawab Heer
BRAMPTON: Prior to the current crop of Indian international students in Canada, mostly from Punjab, previous international students used to come here after graduation. They were mature enough to get absorbed into the Canadian way of life.
But to make quick money, Canada opened the flood gates for students more than a decade ago to allow in even those students who had just finished their schooling.
As the flood gates opened and students rushed into Canada, colleges and diploma schools started mushrooming in every city to accommodate these students to generate more and more revenue for themselves.
Since international students pay four times higher tuition fees than local Canadian students, the influx of international eased financial burden on Canadian provinces to aid educational institutions. The increase of international students created a win-win situation for Canadian educational institutions, provincial and federal governments as they generated huge revenue through fees and labour work.
This also created a win-win situation for Canadian corporations which employed these students on low wages and international students who used this study route to get permanent residence in Canada.
During COVID when most Canadians were at home and were drawing CERB, Punjabi students drove trucks and taxis and worked in factories, offices, restaurants all around Canada. They kept businesses running by risking their lives during the pandemic.
It was one of the reasons that the Canadian government increased working hours for these students from 20 hours to 40 hours per week, once again creating a win-win situation for Canada and these students.
But in 2023 when the economy of Canada got hit, inflation rose, houses prices climbed, rental properties became dearer, grocery prices increased, it was these international students who got impacted the most. It hit them in job losses, high rental prices, affordability of grocery, generating mental stress.
As a large percentage of these students could get permanent residency to meet labour shortage, it created an impact on housing prices and rentals. As a result, the Canadians started opposing the influx of international students into Canada. The diplomatic tensions between Canada and India after the Nijjar murder further added to stress levels for international students from India.
The current situation is not good for the international students in Canada. Although a large percentage of students will sail through, many will be severely impacted by mental and physical stress created by the current circumstances.
Our major worry is that many students are being forced by their circumstances to resort car thefts, become drug couriers and even indulge in firearm crimes. Many girl students are falling pray to pimps as they are being forced to sell their bodies. These girls are being sexually exploited by their employers and not being paid their wages.
Considering that these students as prospective immigrants, a large number of immigration agents, lawyers, real estate agents and even mortgage agents are exploiting them and looting these students openly.
Trucking companies are also exploiting these students. In one such case, a student paid $75,000 to a trucking company for his LMIA. This blatant exploitation has forced many international students to commit suicide, kill themselves in accidents and die of drug overdose.
It is unconceivable that in a country like Canada, a large segment of international students suffers from mental sickness, become victim of exploitation by the system and no statistics are collected to study or investigation the root causes. It is unconceivable that in a country like Canada, fly-by-night private colleges and sub-standard colleges go unchecked and they continue to loot international students without any hindrance from the authorities.
It is again unconceivable that most colleges and universities cannot provide them proper accommodation, forcing these students to get exploited by renters with unaffordable rents. At times I feel pity for these students, who come here with high expectations and pay hefty fees, only to end up with substandard education, substandard accommodation and become victim of exploitation by everyone.
Many hardy students fight back, work hard and survive, but the majority suffers mentally. Those who cannot sustain, go back to India in body bags, leaving no track for any type of investigation as if they never existed in this country.
As I look into the future, although there is a maddening craze among the youth in Punjab and Gujarat for Canadian education and immigrate there, the Canadian dream for a vast majority is fast turning sour.
In 2024 if the economy of Canada fails to improve, we should get ready for abnormal increase in crime rates for the reasons I expressed above. My suggestion will be that the Canadian governments at all level should quickly ensure proper quality of education in institutions and proper accommodation for these students at nominal rates.
For its part, the Indian government must also ensure that unscrupulous education agencies and immigration agents are kept in check and prospective students are properly briefed about Canada prior to taking a flight. We need some good NGOs to assist needy students to sail through this period and insulate them from being exploited.
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