50% rise in Indian applicants to Canada varsities
TORONTO : Earlier this month, when the Canadian government’s New Delhi Immigration Section sent out an acknowledgement letter to an Indian student who had applied for a visa, it began: “Thank you for choosing Canada! We know this is a very exciting time in planning an important change in your life.”
That welcoming note is part of the overt attempt by Canada to attract more Indian students, even as many are chary of the US, given the anti-immigration climate prevalent there.
“It relates to what’s going on in the US and the culture there. Also, Canada is capitalising on that,” said Ravi Jain, partner at the Toronto immigration law firm Green and Spiegel LLP.
As Canada’s new school year approaches, major universities are witnessing a “Trump bump” in terms of applications from international students, particularly those from India. In the latter category, the rise is nearly 50% or more compared to 2016.
“More than 300 new undergraduate students from India have registered, compared to just over 200 new students in 2016,” Karen McKellin, executive director, International Student Initiative at the University of British Columbia (UBC), said.
According to McKellin, one reason for the trend could be that more Indian students were now willing to travel abroad for an undergraduate degree.
“Some Indian families may be looking at sending students to Canada to study because of the perception that Canada is a safe and culturally-diverse society,” she said.
UBC isn’t the only Canadian university that is witnessing a rise in application from Indian students. At the University of Toronto, “the number of students applying from India has increased by 57%” and at McGill University “there has been a 58.3% rise since Fall 2016 in applications from Indians”.
Jain said, “Canada is doing more because of what’s going on in the US. It’s changing policies so it is even more attractive to international students.”
CANADA HAS CHANGED POLICIES TO ATTRACT MORE INDIAN STUDENTS EVEN AS MANY ARE WARY OF GOING TO US