A video went viral a few days ago when a group found an international student sleeping under a Toronto bridge. The group were driving near Victoria Park in Scarborough when they first spotted the student. The student said that he does not have a home, he has been living on the bridge for the past four days. Later he was shifted to the shelter.
According to government data, international students contribute more than C$21 billion annually to the Canadian economy. In the last few years, the number of international students, especially the number of students coming to study in college, has doubled.
At the time of admission to these colleges they were lured by painting a distorted picture of the ease of life in Canada. Many international students from our country come to Canada to become permanent residents and build a better future for themselves and their families. But many people came and saw the opposite situation.
Many international students are forced to take minimum wage jobs. Students are starting courses or semesters and dropping out and taking two or three jobs, and not doing as well as they wanted. This is very common now. Many people we know are in this situation now.
International tuition fees are typically four times higher than Canadian students. Even though they spend so much money, their degrees are not conducive to fulfilling Canadian careers. Instead, students work in low-paying jobs, facing high living costs. In most cases, they are used as a cheap labor sorting tool.
Students are also exposed to fraud and exploitation by employers. Most of the time they are forced to work for less cash. Even in the community they are seduced and used in various ways.
The pressure to support themselves (and in some cases their families) financially and the hope of a good job under temporary immigration status, economic conditions, and the number of suicides among international students have also increased.
It seems that the time has come to talk about it as a community, to do something. All these students are in such a vulnerable situation, stop exploiting them by taking advantage of this situation, pay them what they deserve, help them build their careers. They are here to fulfill their and their family’s dreams, not your dreams.
