Contextualizing International Student Mobility to Canada: The Case of Indian Punjab Youths


Ito Peng, University of Toronto

International migration for education has become one of the most conspicuous realities of the globalized era, as international students[1] [1] are increasingly valued as an asset by the receiving nations. These students eventually become a part of a global pool of highly skilled workers over which state actors like governments and corporations compete (Shachar, 2013). In recent years, Canada has emerged as a frontrunner among the OECD countries in attracting international students. While the destinations of international students have diversified over the past decade, India remains one of the major origin countries, accounting for 10% of all international students in the OECD nations in 2020 (OECD, 2022). The number of international students in Canada has increased by nearly 7-fold since 2000, from 122,665 to 807,269 in 2022. Within this, the increase in the influx of students from India has been particularly conspicuous. By 2022, Indians made up the largest share of international students in Canada, accounting for roughly 40% of all international students across the country. One Indian state that features prominently in discussions on student migration to Canada is Punjab. This distinction is not only because of historical Indo-Canadian immigration and a large and growing Indo-Canadian community in Canada (Walton-Roberts, 2003), but also due to an increasing number of Indian international students originating from Punjab. The large number of Punjab student migration to Canada is not without some challenges, however. The magnitude and persistence of the flow of Punjabi international students to Canada over the last decade offers an interesting case study for International Student Mobility (ISM) research. Yet, ISM scholars have rarely paused to understand and contextualise Punjabi student migration in its entirety, as a complex and overdetermined phenomenon, motivated by overlapping aspirations, mediated by a complex infrastructure composed of diverse actors and networks and embedded within a distinct cultural, economic and political structure. This study aims to fill this lacuna through a reflective thematic analysis based on semi-structured interviews with 34 Punjabi students aspiring for Canadian education. We apply the aspirations and capabilities framework (Carling and Schewel, 2018; de Haas, 2021) to understand factors that are motivating these students desire to migrate to Canada, and challenges they might face as they prepare for their educational migration. Our analysis of the aspirations of Punjabi youths confirms a clear blurring of the line that separates 'migration for education' and 'education for (im)migration'. However, education for immigration and income was not the only transformation that majority of the students are seeking from education-migration to Canada. Rather, many students also held a strong desire to 'get away' from Punjab, not only because of economic hardships at home but also in pursuit of a more 'liberal', 'advanced' and 'modern' society for growth and self-actualisation. This was particularly evident among women students. With regards to capabilities, at the micro level, we observe the prevalence of 'estimated' or 'perceived' capabilities specifically in terms of anticipated opportunities to work part-time work while studying and dependence on family and other social networks in Canada. Real financial capabilities such as borrowing from kin, are contingent upon these perceived capabilities. At the macro level, we found a strong correlation between Canada's hitherto permissive immigration policies for students and preference for Canada as a study destination among Punjabi youths. However, the recent shift in immigration policy landscape in Canada from permissive to more restrictive, and increasing tightening of regulations governing the student visa regime and the two-step migration pathway that students had long envisioned for permanent settlement, are creating new capability challenges for international students. We anticipate that this transition will significantly influence the capability of Punjabi youths to migrate to Canada, casting uncertainty over the fulfilment of their education-migration aspirations.

Non-presenting author: Kriti Sharma, University of Toronto

This paper will be presented at the following session: