Living in cramped conditions and struggling to find employment, international students in Canada rely on food banks and community support to survive – a condition that they never expected when they arrived in a land that promised greater life opportunities.
Simon, not his real name, came to Canada all the way from India to find better opportunities in life. But what he experienced was a series of demoralizing incidents, from going through unpaid training periods and subsequent firing to waiting in kilometer-long lines just to get rejected.
“I feel like we were misled about coming here. We have to wait in two-kilometer-long lines just to hand in a resume for a job we probably won’t get,” said the international student from Conestoga College in Cambridge.
“We would get hired for two weeks, training, unpaid, and then they would fire us so they wouldn’t have to pay us. How is this fair? We take the jobs thinking we will get hired and work two weeks for free?” he added.
Simon is just one of the many international students living in cramped conditions and struggling to sustain themselves financially in Canada. But just when they thought that they were in the worst possible condition, a policy shift is expected to intensify their current struggles.
Effective December 31, allowable working time for international students will revert to 20 hours, half of the total hours allowed during the pandemic. For Cambridge MP Bryan May, it is but the natural direction of the policy, as the extension was always meant to be temporary.
But Greg Durocher, CEO of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, warned of the possible “catastrophic” impact of this policy shift that will also leave international students more open to exploitation.
“The government rarely knows what they’re actually doing, and when they make more changes to the amount of hours these students can work, it’s going to get real bad,” Durocher said, seeing huge labor shortages and disruptions for businesses that rely on student workers.
“There will be entire companies who lose complete shifts. I don’t think they understand how bad this will be. I know of at least one factory that will lose its entire overnight shift,” he added.
But May countered Durocher, saying that educational institutions are responsible for ensuring prospective students are fully informed and financially prepared for life in Canada.
“I know there are organizations in some of these countries that are taking advantage of students, but the institutions need to make sure that who they are giving acceptance letters to can sustain themselves here in Canada,” the government official stressed.
The government requires international students to have a minimum of $10,000 for living expenses. But this figure has been inadequate these days due to fast-rising inflation and ballooning housing costs.
John, another Conestoga College student who preferred to be anonymous for the interview, revealed that financial pressures led him to secure a loan to meet the minimum living expenses requirement. But May quickly labeled John as a “potential fraud.”
“In this case, this would be a fraud. We need to make sure that the students coming over here are being truthful and making sure they can pay for things like rent and food,” May said, adding that the government is enhancing verification processes to scrutinize schools and recruiters abroad.
But Durocher insists on removing the hourly work limit for international students. He said putting a cap on how much a student can earn directly threatens his ability to afford housing and basic needs, even potentially adding to the homelessness crisis.
“So they cut these hours, and then what?” asked Durocher. “They will lose their housing that is already hard to find, and they will add to the homeless population. It doesn’t seem like it’s in the best interest to limit these kids from working.”
Meanwhile, students like John and his peers rely heavily on community services for sustenance, expressing gratitude yet feeling trapped in their current predicament. “We are really grateful to be here, but it is tough to live like this. We want to stay in Canada and get our permanent residency, but sometimes we feel trapped,” he said.
This situation in Canada only highlights the complex interplay of immigration, education, and labor policies affecting international students. While their contributions to the economy and cultural diversity are significant, their vulnerability to exploitation and financial hardship raises serious concerns about the sustainability and ethics of current practices and policies.
The impending work-hour reduction seems to ignore the realities of these students’ lives, which may worsen their current struggles and potentially affect the Canadian labor market and the broader community.
