Some Indian students in Canada are accusing the country of using them as a cheap source of labor and a media report said on Tuesday that they will be released when they are no longer needed. Amid a labor shortage and a high unemployment rate, which fell to 5.2 percent this September, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser has announced a new temporary move aimed at easing the severe labor shortage in Canada, a Bloomberg report said. Measures announced.
Reportedly, PM Justin Trudeau’s government initiates permit extension move to over 5,00,000 International students Stay 18 months after graduation to potentially work more hours than those already in Canada, and to seek employment.
Hopeful residents left without work
However, after more than a year, some of these permanent-resident candidates have been left without working or living conditions in the country.
‘Appreciate foreign students, don’t use them as cheap labour’
“I’m basically sitting at home and living off my savings… Canada should be appreciating foreign students more, not using them as cheap labor,” said an accountant at Seneca College and former student Daniel D’Souza Toronto told Bloomberg.
With 1.83 lakh Indian students pursuing education at various levels in the country, Canada is the second most popular destination for Indians seeking academic degrees abroad.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said Canada has processed more than 4.52 lakh study permit applications since January – a 23 percent increase compared to 3.67 lakh processed in the same period last year.
In 2021, there were over 6.20 lakh in Canada, of whom a third were from India.
Many graduates who were part of the 2021 program had to leave their jobs when their work permits expired, without any guarantees they would receive permanent residency.
Indian students face lack of jobs, income or benefits: Bloomberg
Bloomberg reported that even if their applications are ultimately successful, students face months without jobs, income, or health and social benefits.
“When they needed us, they exploited us. But when we need their help or support, no one comes,” Anshdeep Bindra, a former consultant at Ernst & Young in Toronto, told Bloomberg.
Indian graduates, who hoped the permit extension would give them more time to gain Canadian work experience, ran into a backlog of applications, which caused the government to shut down the system for 10 months to allow them to process. given.
The report said that once the system was activated, students found themselves competing with a pool of immigrants with higher-than-usual scores, reducing their chances of obtaining permanent residency.
According to government statistics, international students contribute more than $21 billion ($15.3 billion) annually to the Canadian economy.
Canada is a popular choice among students going abroad due to its quality education, friendly visa and immigration rules and better life prospects.
Most Indian students interested in living in Canada
Most of the Indian students after completing their studies are interested in living in Canada as permanent residents.
According to Statistics Canada, international students seeking permanent residency tend to integrate quickly into the Canadian labor market because of their previous experience living in the country on a visa.
External Affairs Ministry data shows that in the first six months of 2022, 64,667 Indians traveling abroad for education named the USA as their destination, followed by Canada (60,258).
Before the pandemic, 1,32,620 Indian students chose Canada in 2019. According to the MEA, in 2020, after the outbreak of Covid-19, the number rose to 43,624 before rapidly rising to 1,02,688 in 2021.