Thanks to US president’s tightening of visa norms for students heading to America, ESS Global, a consultancy firm providing recruitment services to students studying abroad, reports a steady increase in queries received from students applying to Canadian Universities.
On April 19, President Trump signed an executive order that tasked the heads of four departments to “suggest reforms to help ensure that H-1B visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid” applicants. The intention of the order is to close the current loopholes that brings in less skilled and lower-paid workers and replace the lottery system with a merit-based immigration system, thus giving master’s degree holders a better chance of getting H-1B visas.
Educators based in Canada witnessed a steady rise in the number of international students applying to universities in the country owing to the reforms proposed on the H1B Visa in the US. For example: Monitor ICEF states that the University of Toronto recorded a 20 per cent increase in number of applications received from international students for undergraduate admissions following the US elections.
In India, some students, who had earlier decided to pursue higher studies in the US are now gradually shifting towards better opportunities available in Canada.
According to Gurinder Singh Bhatti, chairman and managing director, ESS Global: “We have seen an increase in the queries by 25 per cent since last year for students who have enquired from us for going to Canadian universities for their higher education. At the same time, queries for students who are opting to go to USA has declined by almost 50 per cent. As the US gears up to bring changes in its visa and immigration policies, many students now feel that its neighboring country Canada, which has a reputation for being one of the friendliest country in the world, can prove to be a better alternative for pursuing higher studies.”
Dr Roger Brindley, vice-president, University of South Florida (USF) highlighted the fact that the United States needs international students qualifying from American universities since “foreign talent is needed to fill skills gaps in the US labour market in some industries, such as IT. The fact is that not enough Americans are graduating from technical Masters courses such as Business Analytics and Information Systems (BAIS) and Computer Science,” he said.
The possible reasons for this range from a general lack of interest in Math and Science to the high burden of debt that most American students carry with them after four years of a Bachelor’s programme, making employment more appealing than starting on a Master’s degree.