'We came here with a dream for a good life': International students in Canada could face deportation

Hundreds of thousands of international graduate students could be facing deportation when their work permits expire over the next year.

Speaking from a tent encampment in Brampton, Ontario, where she’s been protesting recent immigration policy changes, Ontario college graduate, Gurkirat Kaur, tells CTV News she doesn’t “want to live (in Canada) illegally.”

Kaur is one of more than 200,000 international students in Canada who’ve already graduated and are now at risk of losing their legal status when their work permits expire over the next 13 months.

Recent changes to the federal government’s immigration policy, which includes new restrictions on post graduate work permits, has Kaur and many others fearful that their permanent resident requests will be denied and when their work permits expire, they’ll be left with one of two choices: stay in Canada illegally or be forced to leave the country.

Kaur says she paid $36,000 to get her diploma.

Kaur says her father spent his life savings to send her to Ontario’s Centennial College, where in 2022, she graduated with a bio-technology diploma. Currently working for a pharmaceutical company, her work permit expires in ten months.

“I have already invested so much on my education. I have paid $36,000 to get my diploma,” said a distraught Kaur.

She and others say they were sold on coming to Canada by the federal government, with advertising that told students to come “study, explore, work and stay,” according to Kaur.

Though, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is now sharing a different message to international students.

“Applying to study in a Canadian institution provides a temporary status in Canada, not a permanent one and having a temporary status does not guarantee a transition to permanent residence,” the IRCC says in part in an email to CTV News.

"Post-graduate work permit eligibility parameters have been recalibrated based on human capital and labour market factors," the department added.

International graduate student Bikram Singh’s work permit has already expired.

International graduate student Bikram Singh’s work permit has already expired. The automotive technician is now using a visitor’s visa to stay in the country, but he’s fearful he’ll soon be deported, even though he too is a graduate of an Ontario college.

“We came here with a dream for a good life, but you can't imagine a good life without permanent residency” say Singh.

Ottawa's immigration changes also include a new cap on the number of international students accepted into the country. In response, Ontario's Sheridan College announced this week that it was suspending 40 programs and laying off staff.

In an email to CTV News, Sheridan College claims that “Based on our enrolment projections, we will have about 30 per cent fewer students in the coming years, which will lead to a loss of approximately $112M in revenue in the next fiscal year. As such, we must reduce our expenses.”

This week, Canada’s Immigration Minister Marc Miller was forced to defend the Liberals’ recent changes to its policy, including how it plans to track that residents with an expired status are leaving the country.

Those at the encampment in Brampton, Ontario are hoping it doesn’t come to that.

They’re calling on Ottawa to extend expiring work permits and change the term from three to five years in length. They’re also asking the federal government to hold true on the promise they say they were given when the decided to come to Canada -- a clear, fair path towards receiving permanent residency.