Canada is the world’s third-most popular higher-education destination for students across the globe, registering around 6,50,000 international students in 2019, owing to its standard of education, quality of life and opportunities for permanent residency. Almost a third of all international students in Canada come from India.

With more than 35,000 cases of Covid-19 in Canada, strict social distancing norms have been implemented to slow down infection rates.

For many international students, this has created significant uncertainties regarding employment and financial security. Many of them have lost their jobs and face unemployment in the coming months. They also pay two to four times the amount of tuition fees compared to their domestic peers to remain enrolled in their academic programmes or risk violating their student visas.

For many, the prospects for international students in the near future appear bleak. “International students in Canada are now, more than ever, facing a precarious future in which neither their academic institutions nor the government lends a helping hand,” said Banafsheh Mohammadi, an international PhD candidate at the University of Alberta’s department of art and design.

“Right now it’s tough to get any job, especially in one’s own field. It wasn’t easy for an international student to get a job in this country. After we emerge from the pandemic, it will be even more tough,” said Ramanpreet Kaur, a Calcutta girl who studied at Lambton College in Ontario, Canada, and now works as a marketing coordinator.

Besides financial and job concerns, there are also concerns surrounding housing and shelter as international students who do not live on-campus are left to fend for themselves to secure housing.

The challenge is further exacerbated by the lack of a social circle. Many students are stuck thousands of miles away from their homes and their families. The stress of who to rely on in case they fall ill and need groceries or medicine; or how to get home if there are no flights adds to the many concerns faced while living away from family during this pandemic.

With universities closing in-person classes, contact with local friends is also limited, which has led to some foreign students feeling isolated and depressed.

With travel restrictions in place for many countries, a lot of international students have no choice but to remain in Canada, a development they may not have budgeted for since many students return home for the summer to save money.

Government restrictions have also dashed hopes for incoming international students, who have had their academic plans disrupted as they now choose between remaining in their home countries or deferring their education.

The government of Canada has taken some measures to ease the challenges international students will experience in the coming months, such as allowing some international students to avail of relief funds as well as easing travel restrictions for students with existing student visas. With in-person classes suspended, students are now also being given the option of having their online coursework count towards time spent in Canada to later obtain a work permit, something which was only allowed for in-person classes earlier.

However, despite these measures, the long-term challenges international students face remain high. Many international students have, thus, strongly begun reconsidering whether they are likely to continue with their education in Canada come September when the new academic year begins.

• Sagnik Guha is a Calcutta boy pursuing his MA in political science at University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. He graduated with a BA in political science from St Xavier’s College Calcutta in 2018