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International students in Canada notoriously get the short end of the stick when it comes to tuition, healthcare and job opportunities. Nonetheless, they come here in search of a better life and access to top-quality education/experience.
However, a recent trend has shown that there are recruitment agencies who have taken advantage of this in the pursuit of profit with no regard for the well-being of students.
In India, this is especially prevalent, as agents can make about $2,000 in commission per student they send to a Canadian college - with 226,450 new students from the country coming to Canada as of 2022 alone, that means over $450,000,000 - a little more than a $330,000,000 bump from the year prior.
With that considered, are these public colleges necessary to grow Canada's skilled workforce? Or are these merely profit machines?
How might the opportunities they provide match up to what somewhere like Sheridan College offers international students?
Ultimately, how can Canada ensure we're giving these students a fair shot at starting a life in our country?
These students are promised by agencies to easily obtain permanent residency and find a high-paying job within a year, both of which have proven to be empty promises.
During 2020-2021, these agencies made more than $114 million in commission. Now, of course, due to the scale at which this has happened, we're seeing hundreds of individuals lined up at job fairs, competing for about 10-20 vacant positions paying minimum wage, looking for any work.
Oakville isn't even in the top 10 cities that hold most international students - though we're still home to Sheridan College, which provides all international students with an International Entrance Scholarship, ranging from $500 to $2,000.
While these scholarships won't be enough to sustain students for long, their Sheridan Works program provides opportunities that just might.
"Sheridan offers over 140 programs - 90+ programs with work-integrated learning opportunities. Over 50 of those opportunities include co-ops and internships. With job development occurring across all faculties," said Communications Manager Meagan Kashty.
"Job postings that cater to students in business, engineering, computing, health, community studies, social sciences and the arts are posted to Sheridan Works."
This is an ideal situation for international students, but the reason the appeal might not be so high in Oakville as it is in Brampton, Mississauga, or Kitchener is because of the cost of living, of course, but also one primary thing - job opportunities.
Often, the colleges they attend are merely classrooms in strip malls around the Greater Toronto Area. They rent the name from public colleges to pack in as many students as possible at $25k per year per student.
Tony Keller, a columnist with The Globe and Mail and a graduate of Yale Law School, outlined the following key points in an opinion piece:
"Consider what's happening at Ontario's 24 public colleges. Between 2012 and 2020, their foreign enrolment grew by 342 per cent. There's been more growth in the last three years. But a large part of that growth comes from public colleges selling their name, and their publicly-bestowed credentials, to private operators," Keller stated.
"Why is a foreign student willing to pay $25,460 tuition for a four-semester course in hotel and resort management from a Lambton-affiliated private business called "Queen's College," in a warehouse district in Mississauga?
"Perhaps because the holder of an education visa can legally work while enrolled. And thanks to the private Queen's link with public Lambton, the federal government will issue another work visa upon graduation. Even a low-level Canadian educational credential plus Canadian work experience boosts one's chances of claiming 'PR' status – permanent residency, the last stop before citizenship.
That's what many schools are selling. At $25,460, it's a bargain".
So, with everything considered, you may wonder: What might the future look like if this trend continues?
Well, it's no secret that homelessness prevails in Ontario, with "Tent Cities" popping up left and right, primarily due to the lack of economic infrastructure to support the influx of citizens.
As Director of Housing Services Andrew Balahura put it, the system to protect Canadians from this is "Reactive; what we want is a more proactive system."
Yet the same reactive principle seems to apply to international students. If the current trend of "Students" seeking permanent residency through minimum wage jobs continues, how long can the economy and country sustain this? What benefit do Canadians seek to gain, and what consequences might it entail in the long run?
I had to speak to someone on the front lines to understand how to answer these questions. After speaking with Omair, an international student who recently graduated from the University of Waterloo, it seems that students might not have a lot of faith left in the future of Canada's immigration system if this trend persists.
"I think they've paused taking international students in Ontario and are planning to move more towards Saskatchewan," Omair said.
"I'm honestly not sure how long it can be sustained because the job market is tanking, and Canada has still yet to figure out its housing situation and should be rethinking about how many more immigrants it can sustain."
While speaking to Mayank, a recent graduate from Sheridan College in Marketing Management and an international student from India, I asked, "So, looking ahead to 2024, what advice would you give to a student back home who's gearing up to come to Canada?".
His response was straightforward; "Be prepared and don't have too high expectations about Canada," he said. "My program was great, but my expectations of Canada were too high."
Mayank was fortunate to have gone through the Sheridan Works program, where he landed a sales role in PEI. However, he clarified that he intends to obtain a permanent residency before returning to India.
