Typical Living Expenses in Canada

Image via WikipediaSource: Muchmore magazine
Your life in Canada will be different than in your home country. You may have to take a job with lower pay while you upgrade your skills or get experience working here. That means your financial status could change. Even if you earn a higher salary in Canada than you were earning in your home country, the cost of living here may be higher than you are used to. Below are typical cost of living figures in Canada for your information.
Existing newcomers, please feel free to add your typical costs for essential services or other items via comments as this is really useful information for everyone.

Prepare financially before you leave

Determine how much it costs to live where you are planning to settle in Canada. The cost of living will vary depending on where you decide to settle but some costs will be typical for items and services across Canada.
Check with your banker, lawyer, or financial adviser to find out if your home country has a limit on how much money can be removed. Find out more about bringing money with you to Canada and items you can import duty free and tax free on the Canada Border Services Agency website.
If you will be immigrating to Canada as a skilled worker, investor, entrepreneur or as a self-employed person you will have to provide proof that you have sufficient funds to support yourself and your family after you arrive in Canada. You will need to provide proof of your funds to the Canadian visa office in your home country when you submit your application for immigration.

Here are some typical costs for items and services in Canada.

Typical Canadian living costs

Household expenses - Your everyday costs

Up to half your take-home pay in Canada can be taken up by household expenses. These expenses include the cost of your home, heating and other utilities, food, clothing, health insurance and transportation.

Your home will cost the most

Most Canadians spend 35 to 50 percent of their income on housing and utilities. This includes the cost of renting your home or paying your mortgage (a mortgage is a long-term loan.) It also includes the often-high cost of heating your home and paying for electricity, telephone service and water.

If you rent

Many newcomers choose to rent an apartment on a monthly basis. Rental costs vary across cities and across Canada; they usually cost less outside large cities.
You will likely pay at least $350 a month to rent a room and at least $2,000 a month to rent a larger apartment or a large house. An immigrant-serving organization where you plan to settle can help you find a home that you can afford.

If you buy

If you want to buy a house, you will probably need to get a mortgage. Banks and other lending institutions give mortgage loans. They decide whether you have enough income, enough assets (things you own) and a good credit rating. Most banks will ask you to pay at least 10 percent of the cost of the house from your own money.
In addition to your mortgage payments, you will have to pay for property tax and household insurance. If you plan to purchase a condominium (condo), you will have to pay other fees.
You can compare the costs of housing in communities across Canada in the city profiles section of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) website.

Health insurance

Some provincial and territorial health programs may not cover some newcomers for the first three months they are in Canada.
You should check with the ministry of health in your province or territory as soon as you arrive in Canada to see if you will need to buy extra health insurance.

Basic expenses

Food will be a basic expense and costs will depend on the size of your family. This cost can double if you often eat in restaurants or choose to buy specialty items.
Clothing expenses may be less than 10 percent of your take-home pay, but you may spend a lot more if you buy your clothing at designer stores. Second-hand shops sell used clothing and furniture at very low cost.

Alcohol and cigarettes

Some people include alcohol and cigarettes as part of their budget. Alcohol and cigarettes are expensive in Canada because they are heavily taxed.

Transportation

Many Canadian families have one or more cars. Canadians either buy their cars new or used or they lease them, which is a form of rental.
Make sure you think of all the costs before you decide to buy or lease a car. For example, when you own a car you will have to pay to keep it working well, for gas, monthly loan payments, registration and insurance. When you lease a car you will sign a contract to have the car for a set period of time. You will pay the same costs as you do when you own a car.
Many Canadians also choose to use public transportation, walk or bike.

Car insurance

It is the law that all cars must be insured and registered with your provincial or territorial government. Car insurance can be expensive, but it protects you and other drivers in case of an accident. In most provinces, you can find more information by contacting the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Be ready for occasional expenses

Living in Canada, you will find that every now and then you have to make payments for occasional expenses. Some examples: buying prescription medicine (not covered by health insurance), school supplies and long-distance calls to friends and family in your home country.
Learn more about the costs for living in major cities across Canada at Statistics Canada’s website.

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Going to Live and Work in Canada as a Skilled Migrant: Update

Image via WikipediaIf you’re thinking about starting a new life in Canada, and you’re going to apply for a visa as a skilled migrant, the latest news from the jobs market and immigration department will be of interest and use to you

If you’ve decided that 2011 is the year you finally turn your dreams of relocating abroad into reality, and Canada is your destination of choice, this update on the jobs market, employment landscape and changes to immigration rules in Canada is for you.

As a skilled migrant hoping to move to live, work and start a new life in Canada, it’s imperative that you keep abreast of any changes that could impact on you.  As we all know, Canada’s economy has faired far better than America’s or Great Britain’s over the past few years, but the latest job statistics show that some employment sectors are cutting workers.
Depending on your skill set and where you want to work in Canada, it may be time for you to speed up your visa application and get moving before job opportunities dry up.  Alternatively, if you’re hoping to work in some regulated professions in Canada, there is good news relating to skill matching and international qualifications recognition.
The unemployment rate in Canada in December held steady at 7.6% - but if you look much more closely at the statistics, you can see some notable developments.  For example, the construction sector seems to be constricting, which is not good news if you’re a skilled migrant potentially planning on working in the construction trade.
To date Canada’s property market has been relatively steady compared to our own for example, but a sharp downturn in numbers employed in the construction industry in December 2010 suggests that this sector could be weakening.  27,000 jobs were lost in this sector alone at the end of 2010, and the number of new starts was down.
Other sectors that saw a decline in numbers included healthcare and social assistance, wholesale and retail trade, business building and agriculture – although this may be a seasonal downshift.
The good news in terms of increasing jobs numbers and employed persons is to be found in the following sectors however: - manufacturing, transportation, warehousing and natural resources – and there has been a really marked increase in the numbers of Canadians working in private sector jobs.  The public sector has held steady in terms of the number of employed persons, and there was a fall back in terms of the numbers of self-employed in Canada.
Employment has increased most notably in Quebec, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador.
In terms of other positive marked changes to make note of, there has been a steady increase in the numbers of both young people and those over 55 who are in paid employment.  Therefore, no matter what age you’re at, you should not face any discrimination based on your date of birth!
Reviewing employment figures along with certain immigration statistics recently resulted in Canada Statistics revealing that there is a strong and disappointing mismatch between skilled migrants’ qualifications and professional training, and the jobs they end up doing once they move to live in Canada.
The delivery of the report has proved very positive however, as it has led the authorities to make some key changes.  Canada Immigration is now beginning to implement a fast track system of recognising foreign professional qualifications and credentials to knock down the barriers many professionals face when trying to get work in their sector in Canada.
So, whether you’re a doctor, a dentist, a teacher or a lawyer, in future your professional accreditation should be recognised in Canada, allowing you a smoother path into work in your chosen sector.
According to Canada Immigration: “The first group of occupations, which includes accountants, medical laboratory technicians, occupational therapists and pharmacists, will get access to the programme by the end of the year with the remainder of the professions such as doctors, engineering technicians, nurses and teachers having access by the end of 2012.”
All in all, by the end of this fast track scheme’s implementation at the end of next year, 15 occupations will be evaluated under the system.

Related articles

• Foreign labour levels squeezed as financial crisis shrinks job market (guardian.co.uk)
• Federal cuts to immigrant services won’t impact B.C., says minister (theglobeandmail.com)
• B.C. loses jobs as Canada gains in December (globaltvbc.com)
• Immigration cap: Too low for business, but too high to meet Government targets (leftfootforward.org)
• Montreal draws 3,000 Haitian immigrants in year (cbc.ca)
• Immigration cap to cut migrant workers by a fifth (guardian.co.uk)

Come from aways are moving to P.E.I

Just before Christmas, Statistics Canada published its third-quarter 2010 estimate of the population of Canada and the provinces. The report confirmed that New Brunswick's population continues to edge up and was estimated to be 752,800 as of October 1, up by 1,100 over the previous quarter.

Enlarge Photo

Peter Walsh/Telegraph-Journal

While New Brunswick's population continues to grow, it is being outpaced by Prince Edward Island. On a proportional basis, this province would have to attract 15,000 newcomers a year to match the Island's rate.

Encouragingly, the increase was mostly attributable to immigration, as the province received around 700 immigrants, the highest quarterly level observed since the second quarter of 1976.
As I have pointed out previously, this growth is important but not nearly enough to provide replacement workers for the current employment base in the province, let alone provide the workforce for an economic growth agenda.
It's also worthwhile to point out that, despite modest population gains on a quarterly basis for the last three years, the estimated New Brunswick population in October 2010 just came back to its high watermark which was hit way back in October 1996. Since that time, the Canadian population has grown by 4.5 million people (a 15.6-per-cent increase).
Clearly, New Brunswick needs to build on recent positive trends.
There is one interesting story coming out of the latest population data. Little Prince Edward Island is in the middle of a population mini-boom. In the most recent quarterly estimate, the Island had the third-highest growth rate among the provinces. Its population increased by nearly 1,000 (up 0.7 per cent) to 143,200. Statistics Canada reports the increase was primarily due to immigration, as the province received 1,200 immigrants, the highest number since 1971.
In the last year, the population on P.E.I. has grown faster (up 1.3 per cent) than Canada as a whole (up one per cent). This is the first time the Island has outperformed the country as a whole over a 12 month period since the early 1980s.
While New Brunswick's population in October 2010 is the same as it was in October 1996, P.E.I. has registered a respectable 5.5 per cent population growth rate during that period. This was better than four other provinces including Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.
The recent mini-boom in population on the Island has been fuelled mostly by immigration, which is up four fold in recent years compared to the mid-2000s and inward interprovincial migration (people moving in from other provinces) which is up 25 per cent compared to last year.
Will P.E.I.'s population growth story continue? As I have argued in this column, population growth efforts (such as immigrant attraction) have to be linked to employment growth efforts. Having a job is foundational to keeping an immigrant from leaving the province.
Prince Edward Island has been less successful on the job creation front, showing a slight decline in total employment from December 2009 to December 2010 and only a modest, two per cent growth in the past five years.
However, like New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island is aging quickly and many of the new people moving in could be absorbing the jobs left behind by the increasing number of retirees.
In the end, it is very good news that a small, Maritime Canada province can demonstrate an ability to attract people. P.E.I. has attracted nearly 2,500 immigrants in the past year. Adjusted for population size that would equivalent to New Brunswick attracting nearly 15,000 per year.
In other words, for New Brunswick just to match P.E.I.'s immigrant attraction efforts over the past year, we would need to see a seven-fold increase in our immigration efforts. At that point, it starts to get interesting.
We now have concrete proof the Maritime provinces can attract immigrants in significant numbers. Now we need to have the economic opportunities and social infrastructure to keep them here.

David Campbell is an economic development consultant based in Moncton. He writes a daily blog, It's the Economy Stupid, at www.davidwcampbell.com.

Alberta's oilsands: investment, jobs and prosperity

Image via WikipediaBy Harvey Enchin
Source: The Vancouver Sun

Here's my take on the oilsands, which appeared as an editorial in The Vancouver Sun Nov. 24, 2010.
World energy consumption of oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, and hydroelectricity fell by 1.1 per cent last year, the first decline since 1982. But environmentalists might want to postpone their celebration. The decline was the result of recession, not conservation, mainly affecting North America and Europe. Energy use soared in developing nations; indeed, it doubled in China, with oil retaining its position as the No. 1 energy source.
Once the economic recovery gains momentum, energy-consumption growth should resume its vigorous ascent.
This is good news for Canada, and particularly for Alberta and British Columbia, which are blessed with bountiful reserves of oil and natural gas. Of course, the main repository of wealth is Alberta's oilsands, which have drawn global energy companies en masse to Fort McMurray and environs.
Their plans include hundreds of billions of dollars in investment, generating an estimated $1.7 trillion in economic activity and 465,000 direct and indirect jobs over the next 25 years.
From the past decade through the next, the oilsands are expected to contribute $800 billion to gross domestic product and $123 billion to provincial and federal governments through royalties and taxes.
A single company, Total E&P Canada, a unit of Total SA of France, has interests in five major oilsands projects and intends to invest $15 billion to $20 billion in the Alberta economy. By itself, Total's 75-per-cent stake in the Joslyn North Mine Project will require direct capital investment of $7 billion to $9 billion. Total has 280 people in its Calgary office today but figures that number will rise to 1,300 over the next 10 years.
When president Jean-Michel Gires popped into Vancouver recently, he wasn't sightseeing. He was recruiting. With a population of only 3.6 million, he explained, Alberta cannot supply all of the labour needed to develop the oilsands. Even today, people from all over Canada, and abroad work at the oilsands with Ontario accounting for 20 per cent of the approximately 250,000 direct and indirect jobs to date.
And what kind of jobs are on offer? According to Statistics Canada, the average gross weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Canada amounted to $860 as of August 2010. The average weekly earnings in the mining and oil-and-gas-extraction industry were $1,801. In other words, these are jobs that pay roughly $100,000 a year.
To aid its recruitment efforts, Total funds scholarships and research partnerships at universities, including the University of B.C.
The oilsands are crucial to North American energy security, a fact that U.S. President Barack Obama occasionally forgot in his recent rhetoric about "dirty oil." Canada already delivers the equivalent of 2.5 million barrels of oil and petroleum products a day to the U.S., making it by far the country's single largest supplier.
The oilsands represent a long-term commitment from the many domestic and international players developing the resource. Despite all the noise about "green" energy, fossil fuels will be the dominant energy source for many decades to come. In fact, Alberta's reserves are measured in centuries.
All of this translates into a promising and prosperous future of well-paid jobs, revenue for governments to pay for health, education and social programs, and abundant energy to fuel Canada's economic growth.

Related articles

• Harper defends oilsands as 'ethical' (canada.com)
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• Alberta targets reducing oilsand emissions to below conventional oil, creating a lot jobs and a budget surplus (nextbigfuture.com)

Labour shortage? Are older workers part of the solution?

Image by thinkpanama via FlickrBy Harvey Enchin

Get used to older workers, they'll soon by the norm rather than the exception

With the Canadian unemployment rate at 7.6 per cent and forecasts of slow economic growth ahead, perhaps the last thing on anyone’s mind is a labour shortage. Indeed, the focus of governments at all levels has been creating jobs, not finding people to fill them.

But the demographic reality is that as early as 2016, by some estimates, more people will be leaving the labour force than entering it. Since 2001, the number of people 65 years and older has increased by 11.5 per cent, while the number under 15 has declined by 2.5 per cent. By 2031, 25 per cent of Canada’s population will be over 65.

Many analysts argue that neither an increase in fertility rates nor higher levels of immigration will dramatically alter the outcome. The population is aging and there’s not much we can do about it.

In British Columbia, labour demand is expected to grow by approximately 80,000 more than labour supply by 2019, according to the provincial government’s Labour Market Outlook 2009-2019. Contractors maintaining the power grid and building new lines, for example, are looking for 200 to 300 skilled workers they think they’ll need to complete projects on the books for 2014. And a recent report, British Columbia’s Green Economy: Securing the Workforce of Tomorrow, warned that the province will face a shortage of 65,000 environmental workers by 2020.

Canada is not alone in coping with what some Cassandras call the demographic time bomb. Japan’s population began shrinking three years ago; a quarter of its people are over 65, children make up only 13 per cent. It’s a similar story in Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.

Given this scenario, societies will be challenged to remain productive, sustain prosperity and care for their elderly.

Fortunately, the 65-plus cohort is in better health than at any time in the past and many senior citizens seem willing and able to work beyond what used to be the mandatory retirement age. When the Canada Pension Plan officially became a government plan in 1965, life expectancy for men was 68 years and for women 74 years. Today, statistically speaking, men can expect to live for 79 years, and women for 84 years. In other words, time spent in retirement has, theoretically, quintupled. Recognizing this demographic sea-change and the pressures it puts on public pension plans, the federal government has begun the process to reform the system,

However, much more must be done in both the public and private sectors to accommodate an older workforce. In the latest issue of WorkSafeBC’s magazine, senior ergonomist Peter Goyert noted the average age of an injured worker has climbed above 40 for the first time and pointed out some of the issues facing employers of older workers. "We don’t see or hear as well," he explained. "Our colour perception deteriorates. Our reflexes slow down and we don’t sleep as well. We’re less flexible and our range of motion shrinks. Our bones thin, our balance declines, and we lose muscle and respiratory and cardiovascular function."

Goyert says an injured worker who needs time off will miss his age in days; a 20-year-old will miss 20 days, a 60-year-old, 60 days.

Older workers bring much to the table — experience, wisdom, loyalty and work ethic — but employers will have to invest more in safety, training (especially in new technologies), and programs that promote well-being to keep them on the job.

Barring any cataclysmic event that reshapes our demographic future, the older worker will be around for a while. And that’s a good thing.

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New arrivals push up immigration levels in Canada to their highest since 1971

Image via WikipediaMost of parts of Canada have recorded their highest immigration levels since figures began in their present form in 1971.
Data from Statistics Canada for the third quarter of 2010 put Canada’s population at 34,238,000, an increase of 129,300, some 0.4%, since July. During the third quarter, 84,200 immigrants arrived in Canada, 8,800 more than in the same quarter of 2009.
Despite the increase in immigration though, Canada’s third quarter population growth was only slightly higher than what was observed for the same quarter in 2009. The increase in immigration was partly offset by a decline in the net inflow of non-permanent residents.
The population of Newfoundland and Labrador was estimated at 509,200 on October 1, 2010. Despite a net gain ininternational migration, it was the only province to post a population decline in the third quarter.
Prince Edward Island had the nation’s highest third quarter growth rate. Its population increased by nearly 1,000, 0.7%, to 143,200. The increase was largely due to immigration, as the province received 1,200 immigrants, the highest number since 1971.
Nova Scotia’s population grew by 1,400, 0.1%, to 943,900. The increase was in part attributable to a net inflow of non-permanent residents, up 1,400.
New Brunswick’s population totalled 752,800 as of October 1, up by 1,100, 0.1%. The increase was primarily attributable to immigration, as the province received around 700 immigrants, the highest level observed since the second quarter of 1976.
Quebec’s population grew by 24,800, 0.3%, to 7,932,100 during the third quarter. The province received 16,800 immigrants, the highest level since 1971.
During the third quarter, Quebec’s net interprovincial migration was close to zero, meaning that its number of migrants coming from other parts of the country equalled the number of people leaving the province for another location in Canada. With only a few exceptions, Quebec usually experiences losses in its migration exchanges with the other provinces and territories.
Ontario’s population totalled 13,268,600 on October 1, 2010, an increase of 57,900, 0.4%. Net international migration, the most important factor in the province’s population growth, accounted for nearly 70% of Ontario’s third quarter population increase.
Manitoba’s population as of October 1, 2010 was estimated at 1,240,000, up by 4,600, 0.4%, and the growth was primarily attributable to net international migration, estimated at 4,100. Manitoba received nearly 4,700 immigrants in the third quarter, the highest level since 1971.
Saskatchewan’s population increased by 4,100, up by 0.4%, to reach 1,049,700 as of October 1. More than 60% of this growth was due to net international migration. Saskatchewan’s net interprovincial migration during the third quarter, which was slightly above zero, was much lower than in the same period in 2009.
Alberta’s population rose by 14,100. 0.4%, to 3,735,100 in the third quarter. Unlike the situation in other provinces where migration is the key factor of population growth, nearly 60% of Alberta’s growth was due to natural increase, a much higher proportion than in any other province.
British Columbia posted an increase of 20,900, 0.5%, in the third quarter as its population reached 4,551,900. The province received more than 13,200 immigrants in the third quarter, its highest level of immigration since the first quarter of 1997.
via http://www.expatforum.com/canada/new-arrivals-push-up
-immigration-levels-in-canada-to-their-highest-since-1971.html

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• Surge of immigrants arrived in B.C. last summer: StatsCan (globaltvbc.com)
• Alberta job growth to lead Canada in 2011: Report (calgaryherald.com)
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Skilled Workers Have a Path to Citizenship in Canada

Image via Wikipedia By Katherine at Legal Language
Posted 01/05/2011
Canada needs more skilled workers. To encourage immigration, the Canadian government has established a quick path for qualified workers to obtain permanent residence.
Skilled workers must meet specific criteria before their applications are processed, however — not to mention the specific list of occupations that qualify for this immigration path.

Which Occupations Are Accepted?

If you are interested in coming to Canada as a skilled worker, but you do not yet have an offer of employment, the very first thing you should do is find out whether or not your occupation is acceptable for this particular route to immigration.
Canada allows people of any occupation to immigrate as skilled workers if they have an employment offer from a Canadian business. If you do not have an offer, Canada will accept skilled workers from the following occupations:

• Primary production managers
• Professional occupations in business services to management
• Insurance adjusters and claims examiners
• Biologists and related scientists
• Architects
• Specialist physicians
• General practitioners and family physicians
• Dentists
• Pharmacists
• Physiotherapists
• Registered nurses
• Medical radiation technologists
• Dental hygienists and dental therapists
• Licensed practical nurses
• Psychologists
• Social workers
• Chefs
• Cooks
• Contractors and supervisors in carpentry trades
• Contractors and supervisors in mechanic trades
• Electricians
• Industrial electricians
• Plumbers
• Welders and related machine operators
• Heavy-duty equipment mechanics
• Crane operators
• Drillers and blasters in surface mining, quarrying and construction
• Supervisors in oil, gas drilling and related services

Further Eligibility Requirements

If you have a job offer or if you have worked in one of the above occupations, you must still meet additional eligibility requirements before your application can be processed.
These include:

• Taking a language proficiency exam — you must be fluent in one or both of Canada’s official languages, English and French
• You must have worked for at least one year, either full time or the equivalent in part time, continuously, within the last 10 years
• You must have been compensated for your work
• You must prove that you have enough money to support yourself and any dependents during the move to Canada

If you meet the above minimum requirements, your application will be processed according to the six selection factors in the skilled worker points grid, which are:

• Your education experience
• Your language abilities
• Your work experience
• Your age
• Whether you have arranged employment in Canada
• Your adaptability

How Skilled Workers Can Apply

To apply as a skilled worker, you will need to download and fill out the following forms:

• IMM 0008: Application for Permanent Residence in Canada
• IMM 0008 SCHEDULE 1: Schedule 1 Background/Declaration
• IMM 0008 SCHEDULE 3: Schedule 3 – Economic Classes – Federal Skilled Workers
• IMM 5406: Additional Family Information

Once the forms are filled out truthfully and to the best of your ability, you must mail them, along with fees and proof of language proficiency, to the Centralized Intake Office for Federal Skilled Worker Applications in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Keep in mind that Citizenship and Immigration Canada will contact you about going through medical, criminal and background checks.

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Immigration appeal process urged for rejected visitors

Image by qousqous via Flickr

Nicholas Keung Immigration Reporter

Noel Goonesekera, a longtime Canadian citizen, was upset that immigration officials have rejected applications from his brother and niece to visit him from Sri Lanka for the summer. “They didn’t give any reason for the rejection,” said Goonesekera, 60, a Sinhalese, who immigrated here in 1991 and works in property management. “I just couldn’t see any logical reason why they would turn them down. My brother visited Niagara Falls long time ago. He and his daughter have no plan to stay here.” The Toronto man is not alone, as 20 per cent of the one million visitors’ visa applications received by Canadian visa posts yearly are refused for concerns over alleged fraud and misrepresentation by applicants, whom officials fear would remain in Canada upon arrival. However, legitimate applicants invited for important family functions such as weddings, funerals and baby showers in Canada are often rejected as well — and there is no recourse once an application is rejected. In fact, a negative decision makes the chances of success for future applications next to zero. The application costs $75 per person and is non-refundable. On Monday, New Democrat MP and immigration critic Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina) will table a private-member’s bill in the House of Commons to allow rejected applications to be reviewed and appealed, as is done in the United Kingdom and Australia. Chow said one-third of the immigration cases at her Toronto office involve visitors’ visa applications being rejected, sometimes in what she calls “arbitrary decision-making” by Canadian visa officers. Currently, there is no appeal for failed applicants from abroad. The proposed bill would ask the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada to hear the appeals. “We hope to bring fairness and transparency to the system,” said Chow, who launched the group, Calling for Visitor Visa Fairness, on Facebook last year. It has about 450 members. In the U.K., rejected applicants can appeal — for free — first at their local missions before an ultimate review by an independent tribunal. In Australia, failed visitors pay $1,400 to appeal at a tribunal, but the money will be refunded in full if a decision is reversed. Although Chow’s bill still has to pass second reading for further reviews, Goonesekera hopes it will raise public awareness of the plight faced by Canada’s many immigrants, whose loved ones often live overseas. Goonesekera is filled with dread as he prepares for the guest list, including his brother Merrel, for his scheduled wedding next August. “Some of my guests may need a visa to come to Canada for the wedding,” he said. “I am keeping my fingers crossed.”

Related articles

• Immigration appeal process urged for rejected visa applicants (thestar.com)
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Indian students turn to Canada following Australian backlash

Image via WikipediaNEW DELHI—Vipin Sehajpal has worked for the past two years at a call centre on the outskirts of India’s capital, helping frustrated Dell computer owners solve technical problems.
But when he connects with a caller from Canada, the 26-year-old pauses before dispensing advice to pose a few questions of his own.
“I mostly ask about the weather, food and what life is like,” Sehajpal says.
It’s knowledge he plans to put to use in a few weeks.
Barring last-minute problems, Sehajpal will be leaving India in late December to enroll in a two-year website design course at Lambton College in Sarnia.
His pursuit of a Canadian education highlights a growing trend in India.
While Canada for years was regarded of as a sad-sack afterthought by India’s brightest college-aged students, that perception is changing fast. The number of Indian college and university students studying in Canada has surged fourfold over the past three years.
Canadian diplomats say they expect to issue student visas to as many as 14,000 Indian students this year and perhaps more than 20,000 in 2011.
In 2008, Canada approved just 3,152 visas to Indian students.
The increase comes as Canadian schools strengthen ties in India, which is among the world’s most promising markets for international students and higher education. Nearly one-third of India’s 1.2 billion population is under the age of 15 and the country’s 50 million strong middle class is expected to grow 10 times by 2025.
At the same time, the Canadian government has pledged to triple two-way trade with India to $15 billion over the next three years and adding international students will help. A recent Canadian government study showed the average international student adds $25,000 to the local economy.
David Manicom, a diplomat who heads the immigration department at Canada’s mission in New Delhi, said he was flummoxed when a group of Canadian university presidents recently toured India and spoke publicly about their efforts to coax Ottawa to increase its $1 million global budget for marketing post-secondary education. Australia, university officials pointed out, spends $20 million a year.
“The truth is that we’ve already come a long way in a very short time,” Manicom said. “The perception is that we’re trailing Australia still but that couldn’t be father from the truth.”
Manicom said there are several reasons for the dramatic increase.
For starters, unlike some other Western countries, many foreign college and university students who study in Canada gain credit towards becoming a permanent resident.
But Manicom and Canadian college officials say an overhaul of Canada’s student visa program is more responsible for the turnabout. For the past two years, the Canadian mission in New Delhi has partnered with 38 Canadian colleges to create the so-called Student Partners Program.
Under the program, colleges work more closely with the Canadian mission to understand which students will likely be approved for visas.
For instance, schools now insist students submit grades from the International English Language Testing System, or IELTS, which is run by a British group. In past years, students would provide results from a number of less reputable English proficiency testing agencies.
The mission also demands students provide financial guarantees from chartered Indian banks.
“We had cases where a student would say they had an uncle with fields of rice paddy who was willing to promise to cover their school costs and other instances where families had the value of their gold assessed as proof of their financial wherewithal,” Manicom said. “It was totally unreliable.”
Manicom said the high commission is also working more closely with schools to winnow out immigration agents who recruit under-qualified students.
Since the student visa program’s overhaul two years ago, the approval rate for Indian students applying to Centennial College has climbed to 87 per cent from 37 per cent and the number of Indian students at the Toronto school has climbed to 1,400 from 350.
“In past years, the biggest complaint we had was that it took too long for students to have their visas processed, but it’s much less cumbersome now,” said Virginia Macciavello, an official with Centennial.
Canada is also making inroads in India thanks to a public relations disaster for Australia’s educators.
While Australia has drawn more than 90,000 Indian students annually in recent years (the U.S. attracts about 105,000 Indian overseas students a year), the number of students here applying for visas to Australia has plunged by 80 per cent, Western diplomats say.
Over the past two years, Indian media have furiously chased stories about racial attacks on Indian students in Australia. There were 14 attacks during one five-week stretch in 2009, with TV channels running incendiary headlines such as “Curry Bashing” and “Australia, Land of Racists.”
Manicom conceded that Canadian officials “watched what was happening with Australia and we knew there would be some backwash.”
But Macciavello said she isn’t worried about a similar imbroglio in Canada.
“We’ve been recruiting overseas students for 30 years and we just haven’t seen any problems like that,” she said. “Canada’s just much more multicultural.”
Canadian schools also demand high IELTS test score, sometimes as high as 6.5 out of 9, to root out less qualified students who might drop out for a grey-market job. Some schools in the U.K., by contrast, demand a 4.5 IELTS score, meaning students would probably struggle to understand classes taught in English.
On a recent afternoon, Sehajpal and several other potential students crowded into an immigration agent Bhagirath Bhardwaj’s office in the heart of New Delhi.
Bhardwaj, who is paid a commission of about $150 for every student he sends abroad, said Canada is becoming a much more popular destination for students from the Indian capital region.
“I think there’s an understanding here that the Canadian economy is outperforming others and there’s a real opportunity there,” Bhardwaj.
“Immigrants have a real chance in Canada because you have such an aging population. The average Canadian is 44, which the average American is 34 and the average Indian is 26.”
Aayezah Jameel, a 30-year-old single mother, said she’s been researching Canadian schools for the past year and is now saving up, with the hopes of traveling to Canada for studies in the spring of 2012.
“When you’re a mother, planning like this takes time, nothing happens fast,” she said. “It’s a big commitment and a big deal for me because I’ll be asking my mother in Bhopal to watch my daughter for me while I’m overseas.”
Jameel, whose English was flawless, said considered schools like U.C.L.A. and the University of Texas before shifting her gaze to Canada.
“There’s really no difference with Canadian schools except they cost less,” she said. “The faculty and curriculum are just as good. I know. I’ve checked.”
Sitting next to his mother, Sehajpal, who also has a computer science degree from Agra University, said his parents forbid him from going to school in Australia. Instead, he considered schools in the U.S. and U.K. and Canada.
“Canada has a bright future and I’m excited about the possibility of staying there after school for a job,” Sehajpal said. “I’ve never seen snow before. What’s that like?”

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• Indian students turn to Canada following Australian backlash (thestar.com)
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• Getting Ahead in India Means Getting Out of Town (nytimes.com)
• Canadian university delegation on recruitment drive in India (theglobeandmail.com)