Number of study visas issued to Indians by Canada doubles in 2017

US President Trump’s policy to restrict immigration seems to be making Indian Students look at increasingly at other countries to pursue higher education. Benefiting from this is Canada because of its liberal environment, as the number of Student Visas issued by that country’s Embassy and Consulates in India doubled in 2017 when compared to 2016.

The Times of India quotes Jennifer Daubeny, consul general of Canada, was quoted as telling it. Although she said that year-wise numbers could not be provided by her, there are 75,000 Students from India in Canada now. The Canadian magazine of immigration revealed that their number was fewer than 50,000 in 2015 and was around 20,000 in 2010.

Daubeny said that they had increased local employees in India for visa processing, and they even recruited two to three Canadians for six to eight weeks in 2017 to aid them in dealing with the additional number of Visa Applications so that turnaround times would not be delayed.

Despite this, it took them six to seven weeks to process Student Visas during the peak period in July-August.

Currently, the most favoured destinations for Indian students are the United States, UK, Australia and Canada. In 2016, Indian students comprised 14 percent of all the International Students in Canada. They lagged behind the Chinese at 34 percent, though they were higher than French and South Koreans who were jointly placed third at six percent each. In the year prior to it, the share of Indian students in the total number of international students in Canada was 12 percent, making it among the fastest growing student communities in that North American country.

Management and postgraduate programs in engineering and science were the attractions for Indian Students in Canada. Daubeny said that now an increasing number of students are entering Canada from India to pursue undergraduate courses. She said that they were also eyeing attracting students to high school.

She said Canada was a magnet for students as the quality of education there is very high and also the multicultural environment of the country makes students lures them to that country. Moreover, Canada allows students to stay on to work after they have finished their graduation for certain duration, giving them an opportunity to apply for a Canadian permanent residency.

According to Daubeny, the ratio of cost to quality in education is very high in their country. A 2014 study of HSBC found Canada the cheapest destination for Studying Abroad when compared to Australia, the US, the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The university fees per year and accommodations together cost students $39,229 in Singapore, $36,564 for the US, $35,045 for the UK, $32,140 for Hong Kong, $42,093 for Australia and $29,947 for Canada. .

Daubeny added that Canada was, therefore, the cheapest overseas study destination among all the English-speaking countries. She stated that they were home to 50 quality universities and community colleges, which are all regulated by the provinces and publicly funded.

Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, who is the poster boy of the liberal world, is said to be one of the drivers behind Canada’s growing popularity among students and prospective immigrants. There are 1.3 million Canadian citizens of Indian origin, of whom 500,000 trace their roots to Punjab.

Meanwhile, Jagmeet Singh, a child of immigrants from Punjab, recently was elected leader of New Democratic Party, which is now the third largest party in the federal parliament.  He is also the first non-white politician to head a major party in Canada.

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