Pramila Subedi, left, is worried about her work-permit extension. Unless, Ashish, right, lands a top teer job, Subedi has to leave Canada by March 2025. Photo: Anish/Conestoga


By Anish Bhattarai

 

 

 

 

Pramila Subedi, 24, arrived in Canada in December 2023 and began working in a factory after 3 months of arrival. Now, her future in Canada is uncertain, leaving her stressed and anxious. 

 

“I don’t know what the future holds for me; everything looks uncertain. I may have to return to Nepal, and everything I worked for here might slip away,” Subedi said.

 

Canada introduced changes to the Spousal Work Permit program last week. Effective January 21, open work permits are now restricted to spouses of international students holding jobs categorized as TEER 0 or 1. This policy has caused distress among international students and their spouses in Canada.

 

Subedi’s work permit is set to expire on March 15. For her to obtain an extension, her spouse, Ashish Regmi, must secure a TEER 0 or 1 job before they apply for a spousal work permit extension in March.

 

“Finding even a survival-level job is hard here, let alone a TEER-level job,” Regmi looked anxious.

 

Regmi and Subedi appear to have already started preparing for the worst-case scenario. 

 

“There’s no chance I’ll land a top TEER job this soon. That means she has to go back. Our dreams are fading away,” Regmi added.

 

Currently working as a cleaner in a factory in Elmira, Regmi does not have a full-time job in his field. He completed a two-year Applied Energy Management course in December 2023 but has been unable to find employment relevant to his qualifications.

 

“I spent $32,000 on tuition for my postgraduate degree, but employers tell me I still need a bachelor’s degree to qualify for jobs,” he said. “I wonder what’s the point of a postgraduate course if it doesn’t open doors for us.”

 

Regmi reflected on the promises of job opportunities and a high-quality education that motivated him and Subedi to come to Canada. “We were shown a dream of a country where everything runs on systems. What we’re experiencing here is the opposite,” he said.

 

“It’s a shame and a heartbreak for us,” he added.

 

 

 

Subedi, who has been working 40 hours per week since March, expressed her frustration, calling it disrespectful to the taxes she’s paid to the Canadian government. 

 

“We are contributing, drop by drop, to the Canadian economy, and yet they’re forcing us to leave,” she said.

 

International students who applied for their work permit extensions before January 21 remain hopeful. Hemanshi Karki, also from Nepal, submitted her application on January 16, just five days before the new rule took effect.

 

“I don’t think the new rule will affect me since I applied before it (rule) was announced,” Karki said. However, she expressed uncertainty about how Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) might respond. “You never know; they could announce a new rule anytime,” she added.

 

Karki’s husband, Nagesh Karki, recently completed a Construction Management course at Conestoga College and is currently working as a line worker at Martin’s Apple Factory. He, too, has struggled to secure a job in his field.

 

“Almost every employer tells me the same thing: ‘You don’t have enough experience,’” he said. Nagesh spends much of his time scrolling through social media for updates on immigration policies or consulting online immigration counsellors.

 

“These sudden changes break you down,” he said.

 

A memorandum submitted to Immigration Minister Marc Miller by IRCC revealed that 76,000 spousal work permits were issued in 2023, double the number from 2019. The cap on spousal work permits is part of Canada’s broader strategy to reduce the temporary resident population to five per cent of the total Canadian population. As announced in September last year, Canada aims to reduce the number of spousal open work permit holders by more than 100,000 by 2027.


Influx of international students slowing down


Recent IRCC data shows the influx of international students to Canada is slowing down. More than 515,000 permits were approved in 2023, but it is set to decline to just 280,000 in 2024. Infographic: Anish/Conestoga

 

According to a recent IRCC data analyzed by ApplyBoard, a Canadian educational company, the influx of international students to Canada is slowing down. 

 

Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced plans to cap student visas, targeting a 35 per cent reduction compared to the permits approved in 2023. However, IRCC data shows that the approval rate for study permits currently sits at just 50 per cent.

 

IRCC predicts the total number of study permits approved in 2024 will be approximately 280,000—below the 2023 target of 291,914.

 

In April 2024, Minister Miller introduced proportional allocation for study permit approvals by province. In 2023, over 239,000 international students came to Ontario, but this number is expected to drop by 55 per cent. Approval rates for Ontario institutions accounted for more than half of all study permit approvals in 2023.