Youngsters prefer menial jobs in Canada over staying back

Tribune News Service

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, November 3

The strained diplomatic ties between India and Canada, job scarcity, higher rentals and uncertainty over clearance of study visas fail to deter students who want to get settled abroad.

Hard work pays off

In Canada, a truck driver earns Rs 62 lakh per annum which is equivalent to the income of a software engineer. After toiling for a few years, a truck driver in Canada can own a transport... Sunny Gill, Class XII passout

Jalandhar-based immigration agents said the enrolment process for January and May 2024 intake in Canadian colleges had been completed and they had also started processing applications for the September 2024 intake.

“We are ready to settle for menial jobs for the first two years in Canada. At least, there is dignity of labour unlike in Punjab. All get due respect, whether he/she is a store worker, a business executive or a truck driver,” said students coming out of an IELTS centre on Garha Road.

Sunny Gill, a Class XII passout, said, “In Canada, a truck driver earns Rs 62 lakh per annum which is equivalent to the income of a software engineer. Punjabis dominate the truck industry. After toiling for a few years, a truck driver in Canada can own a transport, which is not possible here.”

The agents have been telling the youth that Canada offers five lakh jobs every year. Sukrant Nain Trivedi, a travel adviser, said, “Earlier, children from higher strata used to go abroad. Now, there’s a race among those from middle and low-income groups.”

The parents said they did not mind selling or mortgaging their gold and land to send their kids abroad.

Sukhjit Singh, whose daughter works as a child caregiver in Vancouver, said he was in the process of sending his son as well in January 2024 to Canada. “I spent Rs 25 lakh on my daughter and will be doling out a little more for my son’s studies. I have sold some of my assets and taken a loan as well. This investment is valuable as the future of my kids is secure,” he said.

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