As the number of international students from India applying to Canadian universities stutters, Canada introduces another legislation which could potentially deter students from applying to the country.
The Department of Immigration has doubled the financial requirement for international students. The requirement for students has been $10,000 since the early 2000s, and has been almost doubled to $20,635 applying to students who submit their study permits on or after January 1st, 2024.
This change was made to manage student expectations upon arrival about the cost-of-living in the country.
Marc Miller, Canada's Minister of Immigration said,” We are revising the cost-of-living threshold so that international students understand the true cost of living here.”
What do student think?
Luke Dias, a student from Vancouver Island University said that the rent itself is $850 a month and Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) on the $10000 barely covers it. He added,”This decision does obscure the prospect of Canada being an affordable destination.”
The leaders of a student group called Montreal Youth-Student Organization (MYSO) have said,”Doubling student funding would not solve fraud, exploitation, abuse and housing problems. On the contrary, the government is shirking its responsibility and placing the entire burden on the international students.” Lamenting the lakhs of rupees students pay towards IELTS, agents fees, expensive tuition fees, air tickets, they added that this decision will put students further in debt.
"The job market is very tight"
A lot of students agree with the decision as well because the $10000 requirement and the GIC that they get out of it, does not prepare them for the living expenditure in the country. With exorbitant rents reaching $850 and the lack of part-time jobs, the new financial requirements will provide students adequate resources for their stay in the country.
The immigration department also did not extend the 18-month work permit that was introduced during the pandemic to combat labour shortage while extending the waiver on the 20-hour per week cap on off-campus jobs to April 30th, 2024.
The department added that it is considering increasing the cap to 30 hours per week for international students.
Chirag Shetty, another student studying in Canada, said that getting part time jobs was very difficult due to the high student inflow. Even with the waiver on the cap, students mostly work for 15-20 hours a week because of the tight job market, he added.
