Canada is one of the advanced economies struggling to find workers after the pandemic. The situation led Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government last year to allow around 50,000 foreign students to extend their stay for up to 18 months after graduation to work, but now some students are accusing Canadian authorities of using them as cheap labor to use and throw away. .

The government argued that the visa extension was a way to ‘help more graduates meet pressing needs’ in key sectors and allow them to get the necessary work experience to emigrate permanently but also, the country needed reinforcements to recover from the pandemic. Two birds with one stone. A year and a half later, in many cases, young people have lost their jobs and have no guarantee of obtaining a permanent residence visa.

“I’m basically at home, live off my savings and without knowing how long I’m going to have to do this”, he explained in an interview with Bloomberg Daniel D’Souza, accountant and alumnus of Seneca College near Toronto. “Canada should value international students more, not just use them as a form of cheap labor.”

In response to the same media, the spokesperson for the Immigration Department, Jeffrey MacDonald, assured that they were thinking of ways to better support those who wish to settle permanently in the country.

“When they needed us, they exploited us. But when we need their help or support, no one comes forward,” said Anshdeep Bindra, a former Ernst & Young consultant in Toronto. “We pay fees and taxes and get nothing in return. He doesn’t recognize that we are the people who helped him solve the labor shortage.”

International graduates hoped the leave extension would give them more time to gain Canadian work experience and move up the ladder. the point scale of the grading system. But the reality was quite different. These graduates were caught up in a deluge of applications that led to a 10-month system shutdown as the government failed to process them all. When the system reopened, students found themselves competing against immigrant groups with far more points, further reducing their chances of obtaining permanent residency.

If the application for a residence visa is finally successful, those waiting for them will not be easy either: they will face months in limbo without a job, income or social and health benefits.

Foreign labor needed

As the Trudeau government plans to welcome a record number of new immigrants over the next three years, the country must figure out how to deal with its aging workforce and will soon announce new targets for this “mission”.

Of all permanent residents received in 2021, nearly 40% were international graduates, historical record in department data. The government also reported that since July this year, 26,250 invitations to apply for permanent residence have been issued, including 10,212 for international students or graduates.

international students contribute more than 21,000 million Canadian dollars (15,300 million dollars) per year to the economy, and also to “refresh” the country’s workforce.