How Canada’s housing crisis is making life difficult for Indian students

Many Indian students in Canada are facing the full force of the country’s housing crisis. Amid sky-high rents and a shortage of houses, coupled with difficulty in finding jobs, international students are bearing the brunt.The situation is more dire for Indians who have become the largest source of foreign students in Canada.Let’s take a closer look at how Indian students are feeling the pinch of Canada’s housing crisis.Canada’s housing crisisAs per BBC, the average rate of a house in Canada was about C$750,000 (over Rs 4 crore) as of August. In big cities like Toronto and Vancouver, houses now cost an eye-watering C$1 million (over Rs 6 crore).Rent in major cities of the North American nation has also seen an uptick in recent years. In 2017, the average monthly rent for a house in Canada was $1,172, which climbed to $2,289 in 2023, according to India Today. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto is C$2,500 (about Rs 1.5 lakh), reported BBC.One of the reasons for the situation is Canada's population growth – mostly spurred by immigration – which is higher than the number of homes being built, noted BBC.[caption id="attachment_13176262" align="alignnone" width="640"]

In Canadian cities like Toronto and Vancouver, houses now cost an eye-watering C$1 million (over Rs 6 crore). Reuters (Representational Image)[/caption]According to Canada’s federal housing agency, CMHC, the country needs to construct 5.8 million new homes, including two million rental places, by 2030 to reduce inflated housing prices.Rise in no. of international studentsLast year, Canada accepted 800,000 international students, a whopping 75 per cent surge from five years back.Ontario, the country's most populous province, admits the most number of international students, as per India Today. In the 2021-22 academic year, the enrolment of foreign students surpassed domestic ones in about seven out of 24 publicly funded colleges in Ontario, as per an Indian Express report.Lambton College in Sarnia saw around 92 per cent international enrolment, while 82 per cent of foreign students secured admissions at Canadore College in North Bay. The international enrolment stood around 90 per cent at Northern College in Timmins and over 50 per cent at Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie, the newspaper reported.ALSO READ: How Indian students contribute crores every year to Canada’s economyHow Indian students are sufferingOf the overall international enrollment last year, 320,000 students were from India. In 2022, Canada granted 12 per cent of study permits to students from China, followed by 7 per cent from the Philippines, and other countries.In the first week of September, about 30 students, mainly from India, protested outside the Canadore College in North Bay to highlight their woes about a lack of housing facilities.As per a report in India Today, Indian students who recently came to Ontario are forced to go door-to-door to look for rented accommodation from complete strangers.Amid the high cost of living, many students are sharing a single room in basements of houses and doing whatever part-time jobs they can find.“They (foreign students) end up sharing a store room in some basement of some house and pay $600-650 as rent. The entire $650 given as part of the GIC [guaranteed return by the Canadian government for $10,000 compulsory investment] goes into paying rent. How will the students pay for grocery and phone bills,” Gaurav Bhatt, a journalist with The Canadian Press, told India Today.According to Bhatt, part-time jobs have also become scarce.Speaking to Indian Express, Gaurav Sharma, a Global Business Management student in Canada’s Mississauga, said that the rent of a private room that cost $300 per month a year ago has now jumped to $2,000.The prices of grocery items, including essentials, have also doubled. Meanwhile, international students, if they can find a job, earn only $50 and $80 per day.“Rent prices have surged drastically, with multiple students sharing a single room and each paying over $500. This stands in stark contrast to the previous year when a private room could be rented for just $300. Students resort to jobs like Uber Eats delivery, but the daily earnings of $50-$80 are inadequate to cover their living expenses,” Sharma was quoted as saying by Indian Express.The higher costs of living and fewer job opportunities are also affecting the mental health of international students, experts say.Manan Gupta, a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC-IRB), told India Today, “The rise in international students in Canada hasn’t matched with the provision of basic resources, including housing, mental wellness, basic health care among others”.Is a cap on international students the answer? With some blaming the rise in the influx of international students for exacerbating Canada’s housing woes, the issue has garnered political limelight.In August, Canadian housing minister Sean Fraser proposed a cap on international students to tackle the skyrocketing housing costs. The idea was turned down by universities, and also the province of Quebec, reported BBC.On Tuesday (26 September), Canadian MP Jagmeet Singh hit out at the Justin Trudeau government saying international students should not be blamed for the country’s housing crisis.“Justin Trudeau’s housing crisis has left students struggling to find a home. Instead of blaming students, we must implement immediate solutions,” Singh, the head of the New Democratic Party (NDP), wrote on X.NDP has a tie-up with Trudeau’s Liberal Party.He also called the proposal to cap the number of international students “ridiculous”.To resolve the issue, Singh said that “educational institutions should have a plan to house their students, and study permits should be issued to universities or other schools that can show a plan to house their students,” reported India Today.

Manan Gupta, the RCIC-IRB from Skylake Immigration based in Ontario’s Brampton, told India Today that a cap on international students would not solve Canada’s housing woes. “... this step alone is not sufficient to solve the housing crisis in Canada. The need of the hour is to mandate educational institutions to build more student housing to match growth in student recruitment numbers,” he added.With inputs from agencies