Report says Canada exploiting Indian students for 'cheap labour'
Darpan News Desk IANS, 01 Nov, 2022 10:56 AM
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Some Indian students in Canada are accusing the country of using them as a cheap source of labour and discarding them once they're no longer needed, a media report said on Tuesday.
Amid labour shortage and high unemployment rate, which fell to 5.2 per cent this September, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced a new temporary measure aimed at reducing severe labour shortages in Canada, a Bloomberg report said.
According to the report, PM Justin Trudeau's government introduced the permit extension move to over 5,00,000 international students already in Canada to potentially work more hours, and stay for 18 months after graduation to seek employment.
However, after more than a year, some of these permanent-resident hopefuls have been left without status to work or remain in the country.
"I'm basically sitting at home and living off of my savings... Canada should appreciate foreign students more, not just use them as a form of cheap labour," Daniel D'Souza, an accountant and former student at Seneca College near 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 pursuing academic degrees at foreign shores.
Canada has processed more than 4.52 lakh study permit applications since January -- a 23 percent increase compared to the 3.67 lakh processed over the same period last year, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said.
In 2021, Canada had over 6.20 lakh of which one-third were from India.
Many graduates who were part of the 2021 program, had to leave their jobs when their work permits expired with no guarantee they'll gain permanent residency.
Even if their applications are eventually successful, students face months in limbo with no job, income, or health and social benefits, Bloomberg reported.
"When they needed us, they exploited us. But when we need their help or support, nobody shows up," Anshdeep Bindra, a former consultant at Ernst & Young in Toronto, told Bloomberg.
Indian graduates, who hoped that the permit extension would give them more time to gain Canadian work experience, got mired in a backlog of applications that led to a 10-month shutdown of the system to allow the government to process them.
Once the system was activated, the students found themselves competing with pools of immigrants with much higher-than-normal scores, reducing their chances of gaining permanent residency, the report said.
International students contribute more than C$21 billion ($15.3 billion) annually to the Canadian economy, according to the government data.
Canada is a popular choice among students moving abroad due to its quality education, friendly visa and immigration rules, and better life prospects.
Most Indian students are interested in remaining in Canada as permanent residents after completing their studies.
According to Statistics Canada, international students who get permanent residence tend to integrate quickly into the Canadian labour market due to their previous experience of living in the country on visas.
MEA data show that in the first six months of 2022, as many as 64,667 Indians going abroad for education named the USA as their destination, followed closely by Canada (60,258).
Before the pandemic, in 2019, 1,32,620 Indian students had chosen Canada. In 2020, after Covid-19 broke out, the number dipped to 43,624, before rising sharply to 1,02,688 in 2021, according to the MEA.
The B.C. General Employees Union says in a statement the proposed deal with B.C.'s Public Service Agency was reached after almost two weeks of limited job action and more than seven months of negotiations. The union suspended its job action last week as its bargaining committee returned to negotiations in what it said was "a sign of good faith."
The rate hike was in line with what many economists were expecting and brings the bank’s key rate target to 3.25 per cent. In the rate announcement, the Bank of Canada says global inflation remains high because of global supply chain disruptions, the effects of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.
RCMP have not said what motivated the attacks on Sunday that left 10 people dead and 18 injured on the James Smith Cree Nation and nearby village of Weldon, northeast of Saskatoon. Police believe some victims were targeted but others were chosen at random.
VPD officers were called to the Hornby Street SRO around 8 a.m. yesterday, after the 25-year-old victim walked inside with multiple stab wounds. While some officers tended to the victim’s injuries, others set out to locate the suspects, who had fled the crime scene.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the immunization campaign will also include more opportunities to get the flu vaccine as respiratory illnesses are expected to return after a decline due to COVID restrictions. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends people receive their second booster dose at least six months or longer after their first booster.
On Tuesday, September 6, at 6:30 a.m., Coquitlam RCMP frontline officers were first to respond to a report of a single vehicle collision in the 200-block of North Road, near the Coquitlam-Burnaby border. The vehicle involved left the roadway and flipped. It does not appear any other vehicles were involved.
