In the Prince Edward Island (PEI) region of Canada, hundreds of Indian students are demonstrating and pleading with the government to let them stay in the nation. We claim that even after graduation, we are still being refused work permits and are in danger of deportation. They are threatening to embark on a hunger strike in response to unfulfilled demands.
What happened in PEI?
When a student enrols in a diploma mill in, say, Ontario or British Columbia, they discover that the jurisdiction of their choice already has a very crowded population and a competitive pathway to permanent residency. They withdrew from that Ontario/B.C. college and enrolled in a different diploma mill located in a far-off province. In an attempt to draw in residents, the province, which has an ageing and stagnant population, offers programmes that facilitate permanent residence for temporary residents. This initiative, known as the Provincial Nominee Programme (PNP), has long assisted these provinces in addressing their labour shortages and sustaining sustainable population growth, all the while providing overseas students with an opportunity to realise their ambition of becoming citizens of Canada.
However, the past few years have seen an unprecedented level of immigration to Canada. More students than could be accommodated by PNP have gone to provinces like PEI. The local government recently made the decision to give PRs to employees in the construction, healthcare, and early childhood education sectors in order of priority. International students are stranded as a result, with the majority of them employed in the food and retail sectors. Students who have been in the nation for more than a year now assert that the government abruptly modified the rules. The protest leader, Rupender Singh, an Indian immigrant to Canada in 2019, told the CBC, “They called us here, now they want us to leave. Our province gave us false hopes. They were giving us wrong information. This is totally an exploitation.”
Reasons…
The reason seems to be that if a group of students were successful in getting their deportations stopped in the case of the forged acceptance letters last year, then so can they. However, it was a year ago. Many things have changed since then, including a new minister overseeing immigration, low public popularity ratings for the government, fewer jobs, and lengthier application wait times. And as a result, Canadians’ views on immigration and the politics around it have also evolved—not significantly, but enough to suggest that the government is unlikely to change its mind this time.
Canada’s PEI Law
A bill limiting postgraduate work permits to students with particular qualifications was passed by PEI last July. Many overseas students are now unable to continue working in Canada since they can only obtain a permit if they have training in construction, home building, or healthcare.
When similar restrictions were placed in Manitoba earlier this year, the Trudeau administration was forced to grant two more years of postgraduate work permits in response to public outcry. Students in PEI are now calling for comparable treatment.
Demands of Indian students…
Students are demanding that work permits be extended and that the most recent modifications to immigration laws be reviewed. They wish to be “grandfathered,” which would entitle them to exemption from new laws or rules due to their prior situation or status. Therefore, in the event that a new immigration policy is put into place that has tighter requirements, those who applied prior to the policy change may be “grandfathered in,” which means they can continue using the previous, less restrictive standards.
