“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 percent this September, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced a new temporary measure aimed at reducing severe labour shortages in Canada, a Bloomberg report said.” https://zeenews.india.com/world/are-indian-students-in-canada-being-exploited-for-cheap-labour-read-report-2529786.html
I'm a bit confused as to what Indian students expected from Canada. Jobs are available, or they're not. The Government can't be expected to manufacture them to order. Hopefully, if they wish to remain in Canada after graduation, many are working on co-ops and most are in programs which will lead to jobs after graduation. Personally, I know some former students, male and female. from quite a few places - including Hong Kong, Nigeria and India, who have done very well here. Often, they were snapped-up by employers during their co-op days (often in business programs) and destined in advance, for for f/t jobs right after graduation. Also, many South Asian faces in health tech. these days. I'm a fairly frequent flyer, for tests etc. As to being "beat out" of entry by higher-scoring competitors - it's a competition. It has to be. There is a very high number of Indian students where I live. It dismays me to find that there's hardly a non-Indian face among all the minimum-wage Security Guards (huge number during Covid!) and low-buck retail personnel - cell-phone booths etc. Indicates to me there must indeed be a lack of better jobs available. And that back home - conditions AND prospects - are worse. Yes - it's a problem for Indian students. I'm not sure at all about the answer - or who's at fault, if anyone really is. Unless somebody lied to them. Did anyone?
It's not just Canada or Indian students... this can happen to anybody, anywhere, no matter where you're from. I see many schools looking for international students as that's where the 'gravy' is. Domestic students pay a cheaper residency rate than international students, look at so many flocking towards Australia, New Zealand as examples, these nations also have similar issues as in Canada, UK and here in the US as well. Students are using the 'international studies' option to gain permanent residency, businesses/corporations/institutions are using whatever 'loopholes' they can to exploit them within the legal limit.
You say "loophole" like it's a bad thing, or like having well educated migrants stay in the country after graduation is somehow contrary to the intention of that public policy. In the US, I suppose that's true, but I believe in all the rest of the Anglosphere it's not at all.
I agree - every word. And here --- the reason I see so many Indian faces in low-pay unskilled jobs is largely because there are so many unemployed Canadians who won't take these jobs - even though the minimum wage here is now $15 hr. Many Canadians feel secure enough that they can lump along on what they get from the "system." Sure - they'll go back to work (maybe) if there's a lot more money on offer. Immigrants don't have (and largely, don't WANT to rely on) that "Security Blanket." So they take the "right now" job until they can get the "right" one. Can't see how employers are victimizing anyone. Businesses like security run on razor-thin margins. I know - I've been there. There's only so much they CAN pay.
This is about permanent residency (get a degree as back door citizenship (?) ) and not about getting educated (a degree and go back home - not against staying in Canada)? Additional info (bold face is from the article not my emphasis): “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. Indian students face limbo with no job, income, or benefits: Bloomberg 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.”
I hear that the Middle East is well-known for exploiting immigrants. In some countries, their immigrant populations are over 50% of the country's total population. Yet, they don't get the government benefits and rights that citizens do. If you are going to college, then you should be able to work any job you want and gain permanent residency. Health care and retirement benefits should also be required. We need lots of people in the U.S. also. It's a shame there isn't a system for illegal immigrants to be able to use the social security and Medicare system, considering they can pay into the system via a job. All college grads should have the right to gain full citizenship.
All people that enter the country legally on a student visa, then attend and graduate with a 4yr degree should have an easy path to citizenship once they work a few years on the job. In the U.S., we should let the Dreamers have citizenship if they can graduate with a 4yr degree. Maybe I'm far left on this issue. Hehe. Though logically, this seems to make economic sense.
