Concerned over recruitment agents duping some of its students on the pretext of securing admission in private educational institutions with dubious track record in Canada, India has cautioned its citizens to verify the credentials of the universities there before enrolling.

Underlining this matter, India’s High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma said Indian students get “defrauded” in Canada adding  “that’s a major issue we have to take a look at.”

He urged the community to flag such institutions, so that prospective students can be warned in advance against joining them.

Highlighting the issue late Thursday in Ottawa, Verma said due to “factually incorrect narratives doing the rounds in India”, “impressionable” students coming from India get “duped.”

The issue, especially recruiters working on behalf of such private colleges, has been flagged in recent months, with several Indian students facing problems in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

  Reports said the recruitment agents promise permanent residency to the gullible students after they pass out from the Canadian institutions. 

This was also the conclusion of an investigation conducted by CBC News in October, which noted that “lured by the promise of a post-secondary education and a chance to build a life here, thousands of foreign students are coming every year and arriving to find what they were promised and what their families paid for often isn’t what awaits them”.

Verma said Canada offered “real educational opportunities”, pointing to the nearly 240,000 Indian students currently in the country, but warned against the negative impact of recruitment agents.