Tania Kaushal is one of tens of thousands of international students from India now attending a college or university in British Columbia.
“I’m from Punjab and Punjabis are crazy about Canada,” she said.
Kaushal is an accounting student at Langara College in Vancouver and hopes to move to the city permanently.
“Most of my friends live in Canada and in Vancouver,” she said.
For her and many others, it was the large Indian community in British Columbia that convinced her to study here.
“My whole family settled there so that’s why I opted for Canada. They also told me Canada is best for post-graduate studies,” said Anterpreet Kaur, another Langara College student.
According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, a total of 23,950 study permits were authorized in the first two months of 2022 — and more than half were issued to students from India.
In British Columbia, there are more than 143,000 international students according to the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training. India ranks as the top source country, making up more than a third of the demographic.
Rudolf Kischer, of MKS Immigration Lawyers, noticed this growing trend and said it’s a result – at least in part — of what’s going on in India.
“Things are changing in India. There’s a growing middle class. People have the funds to send their children abroad which is extremely expensive,” he explained.
He added that there’s also been a massive shift in the Canadian immigration process over the last five years.
“We moved from the system where we chose immigrants from overseas to a system that almost exclusively chooses immigrants in economic categories: people who are already studying or working in Canada,” he said.
In other words, studying in Canada is one way to land permanent residency, which many international students say they want.
Kischer also said Canada is an attractive country for international students from India because both countries speak English and the job market is less competitive in Canada, which many students agree with.
“It has great opportunities over here as compared to India,” said Isha Sharma, also a Langara College student.
“I didn’t find any opportunities there. There were opportunities but there was more competition there. So I thought of moving here and getting a job here,” said Gomzy Khurana, another international student from India.
India has long been a big contributor to Canadian immigration. According to the IRCC, 25 per cent of the total number of permanent residents in 2019 were from India.
In August, 2021 census data revealed that Mandarin and Punjabi are the most common non-official languages in Canada, with more than a million people predominantly speaking one of the two.
Statistics Canada also noted a large increase in the growth of the number of Canadians who predominantly speak South Asian languages such as Punjabi, Gujarati, Hindi or Malayalam since the last census in 2016, a rise which was fuelled by immigration.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
