Thousands Of Indian Students Lining Up For Waiter Jobs In Canada. Is Canada Really The Land Of Opportunity?

A video doing the rounds on social media has revealed a shocking number of students, largely from India, lining up in long rows outside the Tandoori Flame restaurant at Brampton in Canada. Thousands of hopeful job seekers are waiting in lines outside for an opportunity to interview for waiter and service staff jobs. This picture of young faces full of both hope and frustration raises urgent questions about the realities faced by international students across the expanse of Canada, entering it with hopes for better opportunities but rather quickly exposed to stark challenges.

A Glimpse into the Harsh Realities

The video, shared on social media by an account called @MeghUpdates, circulated with a caption that hit a nerve: “Students leaving India for Canada with rosy dreams need serious introspection!” In the footage, it can be seen hundreds, if not thousands, of young people waiting in line trying to get a service job for their security in canada. The visual alone is enough to raise alarm bells.

Agamvir Singh, one of the students appearing in this video, was very vocal about his frustration: “I came here around 12 noon, and the line was really huge. We put the application on the internet and were told that an interview would be taken. But nothing like that happened. People are just coming here. I don’t believe there is scope for jobs here. It is really tough.”.

Agamvir was one of many. In fact, others around him mentioned that they had been waiting here for 2-3 years, and so many of his friends here did not have a job presently. This student further commented: “So many of my friends don’t have a job right now, and they have been here for 2-3 years.” The dream to come over to Canada for more opportunities became a harsh reality check for many.

Why Do Indian Students Seek Employment Opportunities in Canada?

It may seem paradoxical at face value that most students from India would prefer a position as a waiter or service staff job in Canada. The grounds behind such a decision often combine various motives.

Canada has emerged as one of the favourite destination countries for international students, especially from India. It is known for academic excellence that has much to offer in the form of several courses appealing to diverse groups of students. More than the quality of education, better prospects after graduation compared to what they would be looking for in their native countries are there.

One of the major attractions for international students coming to Canada is an opportunity to find a job to earn after studying. The post-graduation work permit, one of the main offers from the Canadian government, allows students to stay in the country and work for up to three years after studying. This does indeed lead students on their quest for work experience, which may hopefully make them apply for permanent residency.

The Canadian immigration system is relatively more accessible than any other country in the world, probably with the exception of a country like the United States, for that matter. A considerable number of students believe that they would be in a better position to be able to shift their status to full residency in Canada and finally into its citizens. 

That it’s even better is that the point based system of Canada in terms of immigration looks more into young, relatively educated persons with relevant work experience, which explains why international students would turn eyes to Canada to further their studies, after all.

The disconnect between expectations and reality

While Canada offers hope of plenty, ground-level reality, for the international student particularly, proves too often at odds with expectations. A video of thousands of students waiting in line for service jobs serves as a grim reminder of that chasm.

Statistics show that immigrants, particularly new immigrants, have far more unemployment rates than those born in Canada. Statistics just unveiled highlight that 12.6% of recent immigrants, who are permanent residents of the last five years, have become unemployed, compared to a meagre 5.5% of Canadian-born workers.

That gap well depicts a deeper approach to systemic barriers that the international students and immigrants have encountered whenever they attempt to enter the job market of Canada.

Most students arrive in Canada holding degrees and qualifications that, according to Canadian employers, are not genuine.

For example, an Indian university engineering graduate will not be treated on the same par with a similar graduate from a Canadian university. Students, therefore, are unlikely to take up jobs directly related to their specialisation like being waiters or working in some retail store just to survive.

International students contribute to increased competition for jobs. More specifically, intensified pressure comes from lower-skilled sectors like hospitality and retail. As demonstrated in the video, thousands of competing applicants compete for very few job openings.

The situation is one that makes job acquisition difficult for someone and encourages despair, especially among the students who flocked to Canada in search of better prospects for their future.

Social Media Reactions

The video was posted on social media websites. People or students who are aware of the immigration process behaved differently. Some sympathised with the struggle of the students there, while others were highly negative about their move to migrate.

One user commented, “This is a harsh reality check for those thinking Canada is the land of milk and honey.” Others suggested that many students were not prepared for the challenges they would face in Canada, especially when it came to finding jobs.

Economic Realities in India. Why Students Are Leaving?

Questions remain: Why do so many Indian students keep searching for avenues in Canada, despite all the hardships they undergo? The answer lies in economic conditions in India that often leave young people with no option other than looking abroad for better prospects.

This is the case, though with high unemployment figures in India, especially for the youth; and for those who have graduated from college, their fate seems to worsen as they cannot find jobs in their fields of graduation. This poor job opportunity has led most of them to search for opportunities abroad, where they feel their chances of employment will be higher.

Even in cases where youth do manage to find jobs in India, the wages are often very low, and the working conditions are generally less than satisfactory. Many youth feel that they will be able to earn a much better living abroad, even if they have to begin by taking low-wage jobs. For example, the work of a waiter in Canada might be far better than that of a waiter in India.

Another reason for migration is the high cost of living in India along with a very heavy tax burden. Most Indians feel they are grossly overtaxed and believe the urban cost of living to be too expensive, particularly for the younger lot that strives to build a future. Even a poverty-level wage in Canada may be a relatively stable financial condition than what they have available in India.

Case Study- The Path of Indian Students in Canada

To know better the reality of Indian students in Canada, let us examine several students who have moved from their country to that destination for better opportunities.

Background and Motivation

All the students in this case study hail from the middle class of India. Their stimuli for such educational pursuits were more driven by a desire for higher education and better job prospects than were available in India.

With their families and society believing that studying abroad results in success, they applied to Canadian universities and colleges hoping that their degrees would open up high-paying avenues of employment in their fields of study.

The Decision to Migrate

The decision to migrate was a multi-dimensional one for these students. Since the education system in Canada provided them with many more opportunities than in India, the migration decision was attributed to the post-graduation work permit systems and relatively open immigration policies of the country, which seemed like the sensible choice to build a life abroad.

Arrival and Initial Adjustments

Students came to Canada so full of excitement and hope. They were all ready to come and get their training amid life in a different country. However, it was after a while when they had been here that things started changing for the worst.

The students found that life was rather pricey when comparing the costs living in cities like Toronto and Vancouver. Most of the students went ahead to secure part-time jobs to keep them going through school.

Job Search Frustration

After college, students should then venture out into the world and hunt for jobs directly related to their fields of study. They, however, soon discovered a tougher truth as they found out that the attached sheet of paper with a name on it entitled them to a degree from a Canadian university did not necessarily send them to work the next day.

Tough luck. Due to the numerous applicants scrambling for a minimal number of vacant positions, foreign students, comprising all international students, encountered stiff competition from workers born into Canadians.

Therefore, with some bills to pay and no jobs to speak of in their areas of interest, these students had little choice but to seek out low-wage jobs in the hospitality and retail sectors, for example, waiting tables or tending to other customer service droids. Many of them are seen in the video below.

Immediate and Long-Term Impact

Many students had to suffer the handicap of not getting jobs in their profession after several years, while a few managed to get better jobs, many got stuck into low-wage unskilled jobs. The experience made most of them feel sorry for ever migrating to the country, some even mused about returning to India.

Harsh Reality to Know for Future Students

A viral video showing thousands of Indian students lining up for waiter jobs in Canada is but a sober reminder of how easily international students get enticed to migrate in search of better opportunities. The reality remains often far more complicated on the ground as long as Canada is viewed as a land of opportunity.

The dream of many students attending this academic centre was impaired by critical realities such as unemployment, low wages, and systemic barriers in the job market. The case study encompasses an unpleasant shock that one faces during his journey to a brighter future.

The students considering a move to Canada must have some realistic expectations and prepare themselves for the kinds of possible problems that they may be faced with. Though it is true that there are so many opportunities waiting to be explored here, often they go along with significant amounts of challenges that need to be overcome. The jist is to be adequately informed, plan extensively, and remain resilient before and during adversity.