New rules on reserve funds may impact student migration to Canada

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Amritsar, December 12

Canada’s recent announcement of changes in its immigration rules is bound to impact students aspiring to migrate there, especially from Punjab.

Immigration industry experts have already expressed their concerns regarding the recently revised cost of living requirement threshold for international students by Canada, which will now have prospective students show that they have access to Canadian dollars (CAD) 20,635 instead of the current requirement of 10,000 Canadian dollars. It will also additionally burden students, due to increasing cost of living expenses in Canada.

The living cost revision has directly doubled expenses for those seeking student visas for Canada. This is going to definitely have its impact on students from middle class or service class families, who wish to study in Canada. Bikram Chabhal, president, Association of Visa and IELTS Centres

Immigration experts from Amritsar say that the move is expected to show its impact on the number of applications seeking student visas for Canada. “The living cost revision has directly doubled expenses for those seeking student visas for Canada. This is going to definitely have its impact on students from middle class or service class families, who wish to study in Canada. It hikes the bank loan amount, or property loans, which is usually the most common process undertaken by urban/city-based youth,” said Bikram Chabhal, president, Association of Visa and IELTS Centres (AVIC).

The members of the association have also raised concerns regarding the move affecting the industry as student migration gets hit. “It is a veiled move to restrict the student migration to Canada. By December 2022, 1.5 lakh student visa applications were reportedly received by Canada. This year, the number dropped to from 72,000 to 82,000. The industry is already facing a slump and now with reports of Australian authorities set to tighten immigration rules and the Canadian move, a fall is expected in the coming year,” he said.

Maninder Pal Singh, an immigration consultant from EPA Global Linguistics, says, “This move by Canada is going to cast a shadow on the aspirations of several deserving students in applying for a visa as funds will be a major issue.”

He further says, “The cost of living is already high in Canada, and students who recently migrated there are facing issues with unregulated rents as well. These conditions will add to that cost. Students are already grappling with a rise in immigration expenses. This will definitely discourage most of them.”