Canadian immigration minister Marc Miller, who shared the data in an interview, said the numbers were unlikely to rebound anytime soon. He attributed the sharp fall to Canadian diplomats who would process the permits being ejected from India and fewer Indian students applying due to a diplomatic row over the killing of a Khalistani terrorist in Canada, a Reuters report said.
86% drop in study permits, Indian students snub Canada amid diplomatic tension
Scarcity and cost of accommodation have also deterred many students from opting for Canada, as reported by TOI on Nov 30, 2023.
In Jan last year, TOI had reported a Canadian government paper which flagged the “urgent need” to look at students’ well-being and housing shortage in Ontario, which hosts a record number of international students, especially Indians. In Dec, Ottawa doubled the cost of living requirement, mandating international students to hold more dollars in their bank account.
These factors led to an 86% drop in study permits issued to Indians in the fourth quarter of last year from the year-ago period, to 14,910 from 108,940, according to official data that has not been previously reported and not yet released by the IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada), which monitors visas issued.
Indian experts, however, projected that 2023 numbers for Indian students who went to Canada would be higher than those of the previous year as the diplomatic tensions began only after admissions for the Sept entry had closed. Mathai, an expert on Canada education affairs, said that Canada would continue to be the number one destination that Indians went to in 2023.C Gurusubramanian, counsellor at the Indian high commission in Ottawa, said Indian students were looking at other options besides Canada due to “concerns regarding lack of residential and adequate teaching facilities”.
While Canadian minister Marc Miller attributed the fall to the Nijjar row, scarcity and cost of accommodation also deterred many students from opting for Canada.
