Bad News For Indian Students – Canada Ends SDS Program!

Canada has taken an aggressive step regarding its immigration policy, which is to close its Student Direct Stream (SDS) visa program on January 13, 2024. The move to end Canada’s fast-tracked student visa processing system is touted as part of the country’s efforts to place wide-ranging house pressures and integrity on its immigration system. Since 2018, the SDS program has only granted study permits within 20 days to students belonging to a particular set of countries like India.

Importantly, this fast-tracked processing system fell victim to the wave of reforms announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration at the tail end of last year. The decision to cancel was part of the recommendations that led to a sharp drop in international student permits issued.

Under the SDS, students from 14 countries, including India, China, and the Philippines, who had specific language and financial requirements and were accepted into a recognized Canadian institution, could apply for fast-tracked study permits. That had, in fact, been extremely popular among Indian students, who constitute the largest group of international students in Canada.

As of 2023, some 427,000 international students were studying in Canadian institutions, many of whom were Indians. SDS was cancelled, and Prime Minister Trudeau also recently announced a 35 per cent reduction to the number of international student permits for the year 2024, plus another 10 per cent reduction for the following year, 2025.

This marks an important change in the immigration policies for Canada, and such a move is set up as a landmark move to “strengthen program integrity, address student vulnerability, and give all students equal and fair access to the application process.”.

However, all these changes are going to have very long-lasting implications for international students, the Canadian education system, and Canada’s diplomatic relations with India. On an essential issue for preserving the long-term health of the immigration system, the reforms may have unintended consequences, particularly a decline in the number of international students and the revenue they generate for Canadian universities, as well as increased political tensions between Canada and India.

Impact On Indian Students And The Canadian Education System

Abolishing of the SDS program as well as curtailment of international student permits will, in all probability, affect Indian students: one of whom has increasingly looked towards Canada as a destination for higher education. Below are the key challenges, as well as probable impacts Indian students might face as a result of these policy changes.

Lengthy Processing Time – One of the direct effects of the termination of the SDS program is the lengthened time required to process study permits. With SDS, students could now look forward to a processing time of 20 days for their study permits. Now, since the fast-track system is being disestablished, the processing time will most likely go back to what the regular method entails: several weeks or months. This will leave the students uncertain about coordinating their academic calendars, travel arrangements, and accommodation in Canada.

The protracted processing times may also increase levels of anxiety and irritation by students who need to be approved on time to begin their studies.

Greater Uncertainty For Student – The lack of a set timeframe in the processing of study permits brings uncertainty in the process which may cause logistical issues to the student.

For example, some students may have likely renewed their arrangements or travel plan because they thought that the processing of their visa would be swift. Such delay in processing their permits will negate those plans and even force them to adjust their schedule, or make additional remittance for unexpected arrangements just to minimize uncertainty.

Such increased uncertainty will also have psychological effects since students would be unable to balance between their academic lives and personal lives as they wait for a decision on their study permit.

Financial Implications – With increasing processing times for students’ study permits, the students will have to carry larger sums of money with them as they will have to maintain themselves over this waiting period.

This may further strain the finances of many students and probably delay their starting classes on time. Students who cannot carry huge sums of money, waiting to get a study permit, will be discouraged to enter, especially if other lines of credit are not available.

Loss of Revenue To Canadian Institutions – International students have always been a revenue source in the higher education industry in Canada because they pay substantially more tuition fees than domestic students. International students contributed about $22 billion to Canada’s economy in 2022; most of the revenue comes from tuition fees.

The reduction in international student permits could lead to a loss of revenue for universities and colleges in the country, which would give rise to inferior quality of education and lack of resources for the faculty as well as students.
Furthermore, the decreases in international students may have deeper economic impacts due to the fact that many of Canadaian cities rely heavily on international students to keep local businesses alive and housing markets attractive.

While these policy overhaul regarding student visas are therefore well-framed as an internal immigration reform, they occur at a time when diplomatic tensions between Canada and India are increasingly rising. The latest diplomatic flare-up, ongoing for the last few months, merely serves to reflect increased tension in the bilateral relationship, especially during the tenure of Justin Trudeau.

The Hardeep Singh Nijjar Controversy

The most poignant diplomatic flashpoint has been the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on September 2023 in British Columbia.
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, went public with accusations that the Indian government was behind the killing, marking an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
India has denied the charges and responded by expelling several Canadian diplomats.

India then retaliated with these steps in early 2024 by withdrawing its high commissioner and other diplomats from Canada, claiming it had “lost faith” in the Trudeau government.

The recent crisis has added new tensions between the two states, already under tension because of a very large and influential Sikh diaspora in Canada that is persistently taking part in the political debate over Sikh independence movements. Voicing its opinions on many human rights issues and Sikh community matters that often clash with Indian interests and views, Canada’s relations with India have commonly been tense and strained.

History Of Canada-India Relations

Like father, like son; this phrase can perfectly be said about the deteriorating situation between Canada and India under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, similar to the tense episode of the 1970s during his dad’s time-Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Tensions in the Canada-India relationship were such that, following India’s nuclear tests, Canada portrayed such an action as a gross violation of the trust because of the fact that it had helped India build its nuclear programme.

This historical pattern goes on to underscore the perennial dilemma for Canada over balancing its domestic political realities involving its large South Asian and Sikh constituencies with its foreign policy towards India.

Political Considerations

The politics surrounding the substantial diaspora of Sikhs in Canada have always been a factor in the relations between Canada and India. The community, which in the past had been predisposed to Sikh separatism as its cause, has found Canadian politicians, especially from Trudeau’s Liberal Party, quite interested in addressing their concerns. That stance, however, has often conflicted with India on issues such as the cause of Punjab independence.

Growing tensions in Canada-India relations reflect the challenging balance between domestic politics, the mostly domestic wishes of the Sikh community, and a need for stable diplomatic relations with India.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Canada-India Relations

While, going forward, the fortunes of Canada-India relations will depend on many factors, the continued changes in immigration policies that will see and reduce the number of international student permits, the dismantling of the SDS program, and so forth also not be good auguries. For the most part, economic interdependence has remained one area where the efficacy of Canada-India relations has been outstanding. Despite political tensions, both Canada and India share a great interest in having close economic ties, including trade, technology, and education.

For a long time, Canada has been India’s source of resources and technology. In return, India offers an emerging market for Canadian businesses and services. Educative and cultural exchanges between the two countries remain an important aspect of their relationship.

Role Of Diaspora Politics – There is little doubt that the strong Indian diaspora in Canada, largely of Sikh extraction, will continue to feature very importantly in determining Canada’s foreign policy. Whatever the future relations between Canada and India will be, their relations with India will be constantly aching; however, the need to reach out to this diaspora and settle their grievances will remain a high domestic political challenge in Canada.

Diplomatic Manoeuvring – The political fallout of a would-be SDS program cancellation and the lingering diplomatic tension will require careful diplomatic efforts. The two countries will have to find ways to contain their differences while continuing to cooperate in areas of interest and need.

Canada, in deciding to cut the SDS program and reduce international student permits, is carrying out some sort of immigration overhaul. This will likely help its nation address certain domestic concerns, but it will probably have grave implications for Indian students, Canadian universities, and even Canada-India relations.

While the political tensions continue to rise between the two countries, careful diplomatic maneuvering must be pursued by both parties to preserve economic and educational ties during the time of these political differences.

The long-term implications of such changes in policy will gradually surface over time, but this complexity requires that both parties be given consideration toward mutual benefit and respect.