A survey of more than a thousand international students in British Columbia has found the vast majority see their student visas as a pathway to Canadian residency and citizenship, but instead, find limited employment opportunities and little government support to reach their dream.
The three-year project, led by Jenny Francis, a geography faculty member at Langara College in Vancouver, found that while postsecondary institutions like hers heavily recruit international students because of the hefty tuition fees they pay, there is little attention paid to whether they are suited to moving on to fulfilling Canadian careers in their field. Instead, the students end up working in low-paying jobs, facing high living costs and struggling to excel in their studies.
The current system is working well for employers, middle- and upper-income Canadians, postsecondary institutions and the federal government, according to Dr. Francis. “How do we make it work better for international students?” she asked, in a document that includes her main findings.
The number of international students admitted to Canadian postsecondary institutions has soared in recent years, partly as a response to stagnating government funding. International tuition fees are typically four times higher than those for Canadian students.
Statistics Canada reported last year that colleges across Canada saw an increase in international students of 154 per cent between 2015-2016 and 2019-2020. The increase was lower at universities: 39.6 per cent. In Dr. Francis’s study, the majority of respondents – 52 per cent – came from South Asia, the top source of international students to Canada since 2017.
Dr. Francis said she wanted to learn from international students what their experiences were. As part of her study, her team sent a 60-question survey to 7,000 students attending Langara College as well as the College of New Caledonia in Prince George, B.C., with 1,282 students agreeing to participate. The full study results will be published later this year, but Dr. Francis shared her preliminary findings with The Globe and Mail.
The research found the vast majority of those students intend to stay in Canada.
However, Statistics Canada figures show only 30 per cent of those with bachelors’ degrees became permanent residents within 10 years of obtaining their first study permit. The rates were slightly higher for those with master’s degrees at 50 per cent, and doctoral degrees at 60 per cent.
She said that nobody with whom she has shared the Statistics Canada information has ever heard of these numbers. ”Not instructors, not students. Everybody is surprised,” Dr. Francis said in an interview.
Among the provinces, British Columbia has by far the lowest rate of international students transitioning to permanent residency, both five years and 10 years after their first study permits.
“I do feel students are sold a dream,” Dr. Francis said.
Part of the problem is that Canada only expects between 30 and 50 per cent of them to stay, depending on their level of education. But a far higher percentage of students expect they will, she said.
“So there’s a mismatch. Almost all students intend to stay.”
Dr. Francis’s study mirrors findings from Sandra Schinnerl, a post-doctoral fellow at UBC’s Centre for Migration Studies. Her research showed around 60 per cent of international students desire to stay in Canada after graduation, but that the average economic outcomes of these graduates are below that of their domestic peers.
She said the number of international students who make it through the process to stay in Canada permanently hasn’t changed between 2001 and 2022. That transition rate has been stable at about 30 per cent.
“And so has the message changed?” she asked, questioning whether immigration consultants and postsecondary institutions have oversold the Canadian experience.
“Nothing’s really changed from a policy perspective. But you are having an increasing number of very disappointed international students.”
Dr. Francis’s findings show approximately 80 per cent of the survey respondents were working and had one job. Most were earning minimum wage with just under 10 per cent earning more than $20 an hour. Much of their earnings went toward housing.
The federal government lifted the 20-hours-a-week work limit for international students last year, but the move prompted concerns from some instructors, Dr. Francis’s findings show.
“The problem is that many students work full-time or more and as a result they miss class, arrive late or tired, fall asleep in class, can’t concentrate,” Dr. Francis said. “Some students are not really students – they are hopeful immigrants who are using study as their path to PR,” referring to permanent residency.
Her study suggests many students struggle to find a job either in their field or in the region where they are living. At the same time, she said students reported fraud and exploitation by employers.
For example, Dr. Francis said respondents who had completed a two-year diploma program and who had obtained a postgraduate work permit needed a managerial position to qualify for permanent residence status. But management work for someone at that level, sometimes without solid English language skills, is frequently out of reach.
Survey respondents said employers would put them in those positions and pay them accordingly, but the student would be required to refund that money back to the employer. In the end, they earned less than minimum wage, she said.
Immigration lawyer Prabhpreet Sangha, who participated in Dr. Francis’s project, said she’s seen cases where students are misguided and misled: They are told they can work without being aware they are violating the conditions of their permit if they do not study. Sometimes they are advised to apply for refugee status if things go off the rail at school or work, which is very wrong, she added.
“They’re lied to a lot, and they’ll pay the wrong money for the wrong thing,” said Ms. Sangha.
Harmanpreet Kaur had paid $11,000 for five courses she’s taking in her last semester at Langara. She and her friend Rajbir Kaur, both from India, are studying and working full-time.
Besides her own earnings, Harmanpreet also receives financial support from her brother. “If a student is alone here – no support from their family – then it’s so hard to survive,” she said.
Rajbir said balancing work and study isn’t easy. It means there’s no leisure time, no weekends, no vacations.
Both of them, now working at food courts, said their current working experience won’t help them acquire permanent resident status, unless they are promoted to a managerial or supervisory role.
“I was dreaming that life is so easy over here. But when I arrived here, life’s being difficult, totally different,” said Harmanpreet.
Given that the intentions of a large proportion of international students is to stay in Canada, Dr. Francis and Dr. Schinnerl believe that higher education institutions should help them navigate the job environment in this country.
Dr. Francis is also calling for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to give those with postgraduate work permits access to settlement services, such as language training. Additionally, she is recommending the province create a regionalization strategy to better match labour market needs with programs of study and provide greater oversight of employment relationships.
At the college level, Dr. Francis said schools should be more selective in the students they recruit, including ensuring they are academically prepared to succeed at postsecondary studies and, later, in the Canadian labour market.
In response to questions from The Globe, the department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said it is undertaking a review of the International Student Program with the aim of offering students better protection against unethical recruitment.
The goal is to modernize the program in order to better select and retain students who meet Canada’s economic and socio-cultural goals. These include targets for francophone and regional immigration, a statement from the department said.
A spokesman for B.C.’s Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills said the minister, Selina Robinson, was unavailable for an interview. The ministry said it is in communication with Ottawa on matters involving international students.
Mark Dawson, manager of public affairs at Langara, said the college’s international student services team has grown significantly in recent years, and that all international students have access to the school’s co-op and career centre, which offers opportunities to explore jobs, provides current labour market information, and connects students to career pathways.
UBC spokesperson Matthew Ramsey said the university is aware of the employment challenges facing international students and is in the process of launching pilot programs focusing on career supports for international students as well as information about applying for permanent residency. He said a new program at UBC’s Okanagan campus is designed to address navigating the job market and gaining Canadian work experience.
The idea “is to respond directly to student survey feedback and the research related to barriers they face,” he said.
Multicultural Meanderings 