Canadian Immigration system is causing difficulty for international students who had planned to work in Canada after graduation instead return to their home countries.
Recent figures of Statistics Canada shows between the years 2004 – 2013 only one fourth of students who perused their college or university education from Canada attained permanent residency.
After coming to power in 2015 fall the Federal Liberal Government has claimed to make the PR (permanent residency) procedure easier for the students but unfortunately the students are still struggling the way they were before.
Canadian Immigration System demands that the students should have 3 years of work experience in the field of their study in order to apply for the PR. Most of the students end up with volunteering and unpaid internships to fulfill the requirement of the PR procedure but struggle to support themselves financially.
Dhaval Lakhia a Music Industry Arts program graduate from Fanshawe is currently on work permit and in search of paid job in the music industry.
“For specific field like mine, there are jobs – no doubt about that but they require a lot of experience which obviously coming from a different country I wouldn’t have in such a short amount of time. So, employers I feel also think in their mind that international students may go back to their country and I feel that is a factor they are hesitant to hire us. ” – Dhaval Lakhia
International students tend to have higher expectations when they enroll in the education institutes not knowing the drawbacks and struggle involved throughout.
“I’d say I was fortunate enough to have a degree in Pharmacy from back home but to be honest I wanted to follow my passion and be a musician and a recording engineer. But now my Plan B is to appear for a Pharmacy licensing exam here , that’s a hard path to follow but it is rewarding. It gives you a confirmation that I will get a job and will be eligible for applying the PR.” – Dhaval Lakhia
Recent change of rules to Canadian citizenship and permanent residency requirements are beneficial for the students who have fulfilled the required job criteria and are now allowed to count their time spent in Canada while studying towards a citizenship application. Study permit holders can count a half day for each full day spent in Canada towards a citizenship application, up to a maximum of a year.
At the same time the overall physical presence requirement was reduced from four years in six to three years in five, allowing international students to become Canadian citizenships just two years after graduation.
Canadian Education is well regarded worldwide that’s why it attract students from around the globe every year. After graduating most of the students wish to peruse their career in the country but not all of them are lucky enough to get a job of their choice and dreams.
CC Immigration,Refugees and Citizenship Canada
