Desai: Canada’s poor relations with India underscore short-term thinking and failures

Good commentary on Canada-India relations and international students:

…Short-sightedness on student visas 

Relations have also been strained over international students in Canada – the majority of whom come from India. 

Earlier this year, the Indian High Commissioner to Canada warned that Indian students granted visas to study in Canada are often “duped” by post-secondary institutions, sometimes with tragic consequences. 

Further, the CBC found that the types of programs to which foreign students are being steered do not align with our labour market needs. 

This has foundational roots in Canada’s inability to co-ordinate policies at all levels of government and with other key stakeholders. 

International students have historically buoyed Canada’s economy. Their higher fees solidified the balance sheets of many post-secondary institutions and they filled labour market needs, especially in value-add roles. 

The 2008 decision allowing international students to apply for permanent residency was rational, given Canada’s demographic challenges in the context of a highly competitive global economy for top talent.

But, misalignment between the provincial and federal governments has led to disastrous results. 

The provinces – responsible for accrediting post-secondary institutions – saw the short-term economic benefits of international students and began rubber-stamping the approval of questionable schools. This essentially created a loophole for young foreigners to access Canadian permanent residency. 

The federal government – responsible for immigration – did not study the implications of these provincial decisions and aggressively increased their target numbers, especially for student visas, despite the lack of options for both quality education and short-term housing, which created social friction. 

The ongoing lack of alignment to long-term labour market needs puts the broader system and our economy at risk. 

These diplomatic, immigration and intergovernmental policy failures have had implications for Canadian businesses looking to diversify their export markets, especially to India which represents a large and growing market with increasing demand for our goods and services. 

They have also impacted the number of Indians considering emigrating, especially those whom Canada and other countries dependent on immigration for economic growth most covet – students, entrepreneurs and professionals. …

Source: Canada’s poor relations with India underscore short-term thinking and failures