Unable to find a permanent home, they camp along the highway

For more than a month, dozens of foreign students and temporary workers have camped near a highway in the Toronto area to protest recent changes to Canada's immigration policy.

After paying tens of thousands of dollars to earn a Canadian diploma and unable to gain permanent residency, Ottawa and some Ontario colleges say they will never achieve the Canadian dream.

The wind at the intersection of Queen East and Rutherford Streets in Brampton, north of Toronto, is a reminder that fall is well settled. On a small plot of land at the Highway 410 junction, three tents were erected over forty days.

Inside one of them, a dozen temporary workers are warming themselves under blankets, but the thermometer reads only ten degrees.

Usually we sit outside to watch us, but today it's windy and coldSimrat Kaur, 30, explains to me.

A young Indian woman has been demonstrating in a camp with dozens of her compatriots for more than a month, demanding the extension of her post-graduation work permit (PTPD)

The PTPDIssued for a period of 8 months to 3 years, it allows foreign students who have obtained a degree from a Canadian college or university to work in Canada for a few years after their studies.

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Without this relief and without permanent residence, Simrat Kaur would soon have to return to India. After paying about $35,000 in tuition fees for a two-year program at an Ontario college, she likely refused to be considered.

Most of us came to Canada in our early twenties. […] We gave the best years of our life [au Canada]. If we go back to India, we will have to start all over again

Faced with inflation and a housing crisis, Education Minister Mark Miller recently suggested reducing the proportion of temporary residents in the Canadian population from 6.2% to 5% by 2027.

Ottawa also announced new measures aimed at reducing the number of temporary foreign workers in low-wage jobs.

According to Lev Abramovich, a lawyer who specializes in immigration, these measures mean that international students must compete with an increasingly large and qualified pool of applicants for permanent residency, significantly reducing the chances of students like Simrat Kaur obtaining permanent residency.

According to the Canadian government, in 2022, there will be more than 132,000 new holders in the country. PTPD.

That same year, only 12% of all aliens granted permanent residency had previously held one PTPD.

Tens of thousands of post-graduation work permit holders are forced to leave Canada after their permits expire due to lack of access to permanent residency.

Mikal Skuterud, a professor of labor economics at the University of Waterloo, estimates 131,000. PTPD May expire this year.

Study, work and live in Canada

Representatives of the Canadian government, immigration consultants and Canadian colleges confirm that she is one of the tens of thousands of foreigners who have dreamed of Canadian permanent residency.

Indeed, for years, the Canadian government promoted its program for foreign students as a pathway to permanent residency, notably through its slogan: Study, Work, Live in Canada.

Former Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino also announced in 2021 (new window) : Our message to international students and graduates is simple: we don't just want you to study here, we want you to stay here.

It is written on their website: “Study, work and stay in Canada” we were told, is a way to settle in Canada and you can work and be a permanent resident. Sold to us.Says Simrat Kaur.

Approached by a representative of an Ontario college at an education fair in India, she did not hesitate to invest tens of thousands of dollars for the opportunity to establish herself in Canada.

But after some years his dream is going to be fulfilled.

Extortion system

According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, in 2023, there will be more than one million foreign students in Canada, all levels of studies combined.

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This is a 63% increase over the last 5 years and a 200% growth over the last decade.

These students represent a significant windfall for colleges and Canada.

The Government of Canada estimates that the total annual spending by international students, including the cost of their visiting families and friends, will contribute $37.3 billion to Canada's economic activity in 2022.

A report published by the consulting firm in September 2023 Higher Education Strategy Associates For its part, last year Ontario revealed that international students from India alone contributed $2 billion to the operating income of post-secondary institutions.

For Lev Abramovich, there is no doubt that these sources of income as well as the need for labor motivated the massive recruitment of foreign students.

They provide short-term money and low-skilled labor because they study in colleges rather than universities. Immigration consultants sell them a dream, then they come in droves. Sanctions are imposed, despite their substantial financial contributions, risking deportation for manyAsks the lawyer.

It is an exploitative system

Canada has Eyes closed

Immigration lawyer Ravi Jain accused the government of turning a blind eye to the influx of foreign students.

The federal government failed to focus on the number of people coming. He must have known that these people wanted permanent residenceHe said.

Immigration consultant Kuber Kamal agrees.

What if they don't know? Don't they process all study visa applications?he asked himself.

While these experts agree that the Canadian government has never promised permanent residency to international students, students are misled and believe the Canadian government should be more transparent.

The federal government and Colleges Ontario, a representative for the province's 24 colleges, did not respond to our request for comment at the time of publishing this article.

If we want to adopt a cynical policy of exploitation and money laundering in the short term, we should be clear like the Gulf countries. There are many immigrants out there and they know they will never become citizensLev Abramovich said.

Simrat Kaur recently applied for a tourist visa to save time. She said some of her compatriots are considering applying for refugee status in hopes of staying in Canada.

We have given a lot to this country. During a pandemic […] We are on the front lines when people are afraid to leave their homes. We contribute a lot to Canada's economy. We only ask for what is rightshe said.