Close X
Friday, September 20, 2024
ADVT 
National

Food bank in Canada closes its doors to int'l students

Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Nov, 2023 01:03 PM
  • Food bank in Canada closes its doors to int'l students

Toronto, Nov 10 (IANS) Failing to meet an overwhelming demand for supplies, a food bank in the Canadian province of Ontario has said it is closing its door to international students.

Brampton-based Ste Louise Outreach Centre of Peel said it cannot provide enough food and other supplies to its customers as the number of foreign students turning up at the outlet has been soaring since September, the CBC news channel reported.

A food bank is a charitable organisation that collects safe, nutritious food, and redistributes it to individuals and families experiencing food insecurity.

The Daily Bread Food Bank's most recent annual report, found a 63 per cent year-over-year increase in use from July 2022 to June 2023.

"We get groups of three, four, sometimes nine, 10, with their backpacks ready for free stuff, we tell them, 'We can't feed you, you're responsible for yourself and your family'," Catherine Rivera, president of Ste Louise Outreach Centre of Peel, told CBC News.

Rivera said students are required to show funds for their first year before coming into Canada, and hence should not be relying on food banks.

In response, Vishal Khanna, co-founder of Sai Dham food bank in Etobicoke, said one should not assume students have the money to sustain themselves when cost of living is so high.

"Even average Canadians… a person who is making $60,000 is still eating at our food bank," Khanna, whose food bank serves 1,500 students each morning from 57 colleges, told CBC.

Jindi Singh, national director of Khalsa Aid, called the move "quite disturbing" as some students are left with as little as $688 each month to cover food and other expenses.

"I wonder if they realise how difficult it is for international students, some of them who are heavily in debt... Showing up at a food bank is a last resort for people struggling during a cost of living crisis," Singh said.

Singh told the news channel that Khalsa Aid has received numerous requests from international students struggling to find a job that offers them 20 hours a week.

Canada continues to grapple with a severe cost of living and housing crisis with nearly seven million people there struggling to put food on the table, according to a recently released Food Banks Canada report.

Recently, hundreds of international students, who had taken admission in colleges of North Bay in Ontario, reportedly demanded a full fee refund for lack of resources, which included housing, food and jobs.

The country welcomed more than 800,000 international students last year, with the country on track to bring in 900,000 international students in 2023, according to immigration minister Marc Miller.

According to Immigration Refugees, Citizenship of Canada (IRCC), international students contribute more than $22.3 billion per year to the Canadian economy.

Indian students account for nearly four out of every 10 foreign students.

MORE National ARTICLES

Canada Border Services Agency alerts guards to look out for wanted Maine gunman

Canada Border Services Agency alerts guards to look out for wanted Maine gunman
The Canada Border Services Agency issued Thursday an "armed and dangerous" alert to officers stationed along the Canada-U.S. border, warning them to be on the lookout for the man suspected of fatally shooting 18 people in southern Maine. The shootings were reported Wednesday night in Lewiston, about 260 kilometres southwest of the New Brunswick border.

Canada Border Services Agency alerts guards to look out for wanted Maine gunman

U.S. man sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex exploitation of 3 B.C. children

U.S. man sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex exploitation of 3 B.C. children
An Oregon man has been sentenced to 20 years in a U.S. federal prison for sexually exploiting three British Columbia children. RCMP say 37-year-old Kevin McCarty of Happy Valley, Ore., used social media to stalk the children online, then coerced them into making and sharing sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves.

U.S. man sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex exploitation of 3 B.C. children

Vancouver police raid drug activists' office over trafficking, two arrested

Vancouver police raid drug activists' office over trafficking, two arrested
A Vancouver "compassion club" that had been funded by the British Columbia government has been raided by police over alleged drug trafficking. Vancouver police said Thursday that search warrants were served at the Downtown Eastside offices of the Drug User Liberation Front, and two homes linked to the investigation.

Vancouver police raid drug activists' office over trafficking, two arrested

Sikh activists in B.C. emboldened by Trudeau's comments on India ahead of referendum

Sikh activists in B.C. emboldened by Trudeau's comments on India ahead of referendum
Canada's allegations about India's links to the killing of activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar have significantly bolstered vocal support for the movement calling for an independent Sikh state, said organizers of an upcoming referendum. The group Sikhs For Justice is scheduled to hold a second round of voting for its unofficial referendum on Khalistan — referring to an independent Sikh state in India — on Sunday at the gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., where Nijjar was shot on June 18.

Sikh activists in B.C. emboldened by Trudeau's comments on India ahead of referendum

Guilty plea in New Westminster shooting

Guilty plea in New Westminster shooting
Police in New Westminster say one of the suspects charged in relation to a January 2022 shooting at a city residence has pleaded guilty at his trial.  They say Justin Crowchild has been handed a 729-day sentence for discharging a firearm and a six-month sentence for possession of a firearm.

Guilty plea in New Westminster shooting

RCMP looking for more info in suspicious fire

RCMP looking for more info in suspicious fire
Coquitlam Mounties are appealing for more information about the suspicious fire that destroyed the Hazel Trembath Elementary school earlier this month. Corporal Alexa Hodgins says investigators have collected 200 hours of surveillance video, conducted hundreds of witness statements and followed up on numerous tips from the community, but police still need more tips to push the investigation forward.

RCMP looking for more info in suspicious fire