New Delhi: With Canada’s once liberal immigration policy taking a sharp conservative turn, Punjab’s aspiring students who used to line up outside IELTS coaching institutes and visa agencies have found a new haunt—the state’s very own colleges and universities.
Punjab’s higher education institutions have seen a steep increase in the number of admissions this year, with cut-offs for some courses closing upwards of 90 percent. Now, with Canada’s decision of slashing international student permits by 35 percent this year and another 10 percent next year, the trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
In a post on social media platform ‘X’ late Wednesday night, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote, “Immigration is an advantage for our economy—but when bad actors abuse the system and take advantage of students, we crack down.”
In Patiala’s Punjabi University, 24 departments enrolled close to 2,000 students in Bachelors and integrated courses this year, compared to 1,700 in 2023. At nine colleges affiliated to Panjab University, Chandigarh, admissions soared by nearly 2,000 students, data provided by the university shows.
College principals and university officials whom ThePrint spoke to attributed this sharp rise to students’ inability to immigrate to Canada due to the changes in the immigration policy that include no work permits for undergraduate students, and higher Guaranteed Investment Certificate requirement that makes immigration more expensive. To top it up, housing in Canada has become costlier and difficult to find.
“Generally, students choose to go to Canada for their undergraduate studies. But this year, students have been unable to afford migrating abroad. They are hearing that part-time jobs in Canada are not available, and rent for houses has also risen,” Vikram Gupta, nodal officer of Khalsa college, Patiala said.
Khalsa College has enrolled 8,700 students this year—a dramatic rise of 58 percent in the intake compared to 2022, Gupta said.
The Dean of Punjabi University Balwinder Singh Saini, said that after a downturn in admissions for the past three-four years owing to the huge rush of students flocking to Canada, university admissions have significantly increased this year, as a consequence of the changes in Ottawa’s policy.
“For example, in my department (Mechanical Engineering), we saw 67 admissions last year, of which only 51 students stayed. This year, we have already admitted 126 students,” Saini told ThePrint over the phone.
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High admission cut-offs
Nisha, a 20-year-old resident of Ludhiana, has already paid the fees for an undergraduate course in Nursing at a college in Canada, but her visa has been rejected twice. Even as she clings on to hope of making it there, she has chosen to enroll herself for a BA course at a local college for now.
“My parents have already spent a lot of money towards my migration to Canada. I will go if my visa is approved. In the meantime, I am studying here in Punjab,” she said.
There are also those like Kulbir Singh, a 24-year-old pursuing a Master’s degree in Commerce at a college in Mansa. He and his family have decided against studying in Canada.
“The situation in Canada is quite bad, and the gangster culture is on the rise. I don’t want to send my son there anymore. He will study and work here,” Kulbir’s father Kuldeep Singh said.
Bathinda’s Government Rajindra College saw its cut-offs soar to 90 percent for their BCom course, 80 percent for BA, and 85 percent for the B.Sc course.
“The admissions this year have been very positive. We have enrolled 4,500 students and had to add 200 extra seats to our BA programme to accommodate applications. We are excited for the year ahead,” Jyotsana, the college principal, said.
Colleges are even approaching universities to ask for more time to complete the admission process, and for additional seats in their courses.
“Some of our courses, such as biotechnology, don’t usually see much enthusiasm by aspiring students, since people generally opt for B.Tech degrees from private universities. But this year, even these courses are running full,” Panjab University’s registrar Yajvender Pal Verma told ThePrint.
Verma emphasised that students are lining up for admissions in educational institutions across Punjab, not just at Panjab University.
Expensive visa, rising housing costs in Canada
In January, Canada introduced a slew of changes to its visa and immigration policy, which has broken the tendency of Punjab’s aspiring students flying to Canada for undergraduate courses by the dozens.
Canada has doubled the requirement of its Guaranteed Investment Certificate from 10,000 Canadian dollars to 20,000, making migration extremely expensive for families.
It has also reduced its student intake by 35 percent, revoked visas of spouses of undergraduate students, and made it difficult to secure work permits for undergraduates. 70,000 international students could potentially face deportation from Canada.
Several posts on social media by those who have already made it to Canada, apart from content creators of Indian origin, have also been advising students against coming there, as housing costs have soared.
But the current soaring enthusiasm to study in India cannot be attributed solely to the shut gates of Canada’s borders. Amarjit Singh, principal of Government Mohindra College in Patiala, said that while there is an increased interest in the courses, Mohindra college is 150-years-old and has a legacy of its own.
“Our seats have overflowed this year. Last year, for our law course, we had 120 admissions. This year, we have admitted 200 students out of 380 applicants. But ours is an old college. Standards are always high,” he told ThePrint.
At the government college in Malerkotla, BCom admissions closed at 85 percent for the general category, even as BSc cutoffs remained low at 65 percent. For principal Balwinder Singh, the response was positive. “For BCom courses, we always have a lot of students, but our seats are usually never fully occupied for the science courses. This time, all are occupied.”
He added that while immigration changes to Canada have definitely sent a lot of students knocking on the doors of colleges here, other factors like improvement of infrastructure also helped the college.
And then there are some students—still in Canada—who paint a more optimistic picture of the situation.
“I am pursuing a BBA course in Vancouver. Yes, things are tough, but once you spend time here, you can sort housing out. The first three-four months are difficult, but then you find a community and things fall into place. The quality of education is excellent and job opportunities are plentiful,” a student, who migrated last year, told ThePrint.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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