Study in Canada: Punjabis pumping Rs 68K cr as fee every year

Tribune News Service

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, September 21

Amid the ongoing unrest between India and Canada and growing apprehensions among parents who are investing heavily on studies of their wards in Canada, it is being estimated that there is a capital flight of a whopping Rs 68,000 crore each year from Punjab.

As per the data of the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), as many as 2,26,450 visas had been approved for the Indian students in 2022. Of these, nearly 1.36 lakh students were from Punjab last year, who were pursuing various courses of an average duration of two to three years. As per the data available from various student visa processing agencies here, it is estimated that nearly 3.4 lakh Punjabi students are currently on rolls in various educational institutes of Canada.

Chairman of the Association of Consultants for Overseas Studies Kamal Bhumla said, “As per the figures available with us, nearly 60 per cent of the Indians moving from India to Canada are Punjabis, with an estimated figure of 1.36 lakh students going last year. The average fee being paid by each student per annum comes to nearly 17,000 Canadian dollars. In addition, they have to deposit 10,200 Canadian dollars as Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) funds.” In visa processing business for nearly three decades, Bhumla added that till 2008, only 38,000 Punjabis were going to Canada per year.

Sandeep Makkar, a private company employee who has his two daughters doing degree courses in Canadian colleges, said, “On an average, I had to shell out nearly Rs 22 lakh per child per year, including fee, GIC and overhead expenses. Depending on the standards of living that they maintain in Canada, children need 3000-5500 Canadian dollars per annum, which the parents have to shell out for at least the first two years.”

A senior official of a prominent forex company from Jalandhar said, “We often see that the average expenditure that a Punjabi parent makes for sending his ward to Canada on a student visa comes to around Rs 20 lakh per annum. Going by that, there would be at least 3.4 lakh Punjabi students in Canada, whose parents would definitely be sending Rs 68,000 crore per annum to the Land of Maple Leaf”.

Punjabi surge on Canadian campuses

No. of Indian students getting Canadian visas in 2022: 2.26 lakh

Approx no. of Punjabi students getting Canadian visas in 2022: 1.36 lakh

Approx no. of Punjabi students in Canada: 3.4 lakh

Avg fee/GIC charges/ expenses by each student per year: Rs 20 lakh

60% are Punjabis

Nearly 60% Indians moving to Canada are Punjabis. Around 1.36 lakh students went there last year. The average fee being paid by each student per annum comes to nearly 17,000 Canadian dollars. — Kamal Bhumla, chairman of the association of consultants

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