Indian students protest against Canadian Government over deportation worries: ‘I studied, worked, paid taxes, but…’

Indian graduate students and other international students have been protesting against Canada's new federal policy. Under this policy, students face the risk of deportation from the North American country, reported NDTV.

Recent changes in immigration policy have cast uncertainty on the future of over 70,000 student graduates. In January, Ottawa also announced a cap on international students, saying it was being used as a backdoor entry to Canada, reported AFP.

Indian students have camped in front of the legislative assembly in Canada's Prince Edward Island (PEI) province, protesting sudden policy change that could lead to their deportation, for the past three months, reported NDTV. 

Canada's Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia provinces also witnessed similar demonstrations.

A former international student named Mehakdeep Singh, facing deportation, said, “I spent the most crucial six years of my life taking many risks to come to Canada,” reported NDTV. He added, “For the past six years, I studied, I worked, I paid taxes, I earned enough CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) points, but the government has just taken advantage of us.”

What is the latest immigration policy change? 

The new immigration policy proposes to clamp down on the number of permanent residency nominations amid local housing and jobs crisis. This comes in the wake of rapid population growth in Canada over the last few years. According to figures from the Federal agency, around 97 percent of the population increase in Canada last year was due to immigration.

Canada aims to control this population growth by limiting study permits and bringing down permanent residency nominations by 25 percent.

Naujawan Support, the student advocacy group, asserted that graduates are at risk of being deported after their work permits expire this year.

“We're looking at the various streams to make sure that as we move forward, Canada remains a place that is positive in its support for immigration but also responsible in the way we integrate and make sure there are pathways to success for everyone who comes to Canada,” NDTV quoted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as saying.

Facing pressure to decrease the number of temporary residents, the government has reversed its earlier decision to enlarge the temporary foreign workers programme, which was proposed in 2022 to address labour shortages. With the recent amendments, work permits will be denied in areas where the unemployment rate is 6 percent or higher. However, these changes will not apply to agriculture, food processing, construction, and healthcare sectors.