The divide between Canada and India persists. It has been nearly two months since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused “agents of the Indian government” of assassinating Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Nijjar.
Since then, the two countries have been locked in a diplomatic stalemate, with trade talks suspended and Ottawa not providing any concrete evidence for its claim that Nijjar was killed on orders from Prime Minister Modi.
But the possibility that Nijjar's death was the result of gang activity between conflicting factions of Sikh criminal gang members in Canada has highlighted the country's growing Punjabi community and emphasized issues surrounding international student visas and immigration fraud in Canada.
It's no surprise that Canada is one of the most sought-after countries in the world for those looking to immigrate. However, not everyone who wants to settle here can succeed, which has given rise to a group of international students coming to Canada to study at universities in the hope of obtaining Canadian citizenship after obtaining their graduation.
The government has made it easier for prospective students to apply for international student visas, with almost 50% of all new visas issued to Indian nationals in 2022 alone.
Many in these came from the states of Haryana and Punjab in India, thus increasing the total number of Sikhs residing in Canada.
The lure of settling in Canada has certainly led some to try to game the system: hundreds of international students from India were recently accused of coming to Canada with false origin documents. The federal government ordered their deportation.
However, many students who have tried to stay, at least for now, claim that they themselves are victims of a scam and have unwittingly used the services of a shady visa agent in India.
Do, who was ultimately responsible for the scandal. Many Canadians support the students: they believe that these young people have done nothing wrong and should be allowed to stay in Canada. But in Punjab, it's clear that many people are trying to circumvent the Canadian student visa system.
In India, men and women agree to “marry” with the goal of immigrating to Canada through the student-to-international resident process. Some Punjabi men without high school diplomas or required skills post ads in their home country looking for “IELTS (International English Language Testing System) wives”: Punjabi women increasingly educated higher education and training than men, by obtaining a coveted degree with an international student visa in Canada.
As part of the marriage agreement, the groom and his family will pay all costs related to applying for and sponsoring the bride to come to Canada. They then continue to support her financially while she completes her degree — often at a growing number of for-profit colleges — and then applies for permanent residency, which she can then sponsor.
for her husband from Punjab to Canada.
Ironically, some men who sent their contract wives to Canada have now become victims of fraud. In these cases, the woman cuts off all contact with her partner after completing her studies.
She then requested a Canadian PR for herself, thus deceiving these husbands and denying them their golden ticket to Canada. Even for men who seek to settle in Canada, marriages can quickly fall apart, with spouses virtually living separate lives after reuniting in the promised land.
All of this is being arranged under the supervision of the Canadian government, which is why last week the Canadian Immigration Minister announced changes in the way international students apply (and are accepted to study at) Canadian institutions.
However, the new policies will not solve the growing problem of international students coming here with fake marriage contracts just to sponsor their spouses, who have little ability to deal with it.
workforce and skills shortages in Canada.
However, the Trudeau government doesn't seem really interested in cracking down on this loophole. Unless Canadians start asking the tough questions and making much-needed reforms in how we allow people to settle here, those seeking to reach Canadian shores via the Segregation will continue to undermine the integrity of our immigration system and our laws.
Post-secondary institutions are increasingly reliant on tuition, with the province's funding share of revenue falling from 42 per cent in 2001 to 35 per cent last year.
Ontario has also frozen tuition for Canadians for the past three years.
From 2019 to 2020, foreigners paid 37% of tuition at Canadian universities, while in 2021, these students paid about 68% of tuition at Ontario colleges.