Study In Canada May Prove The Smart Way Of Immigrating To Canada

Raj Singh *

Canada accepts immigrants under 9 different categories. When Canada’s immigrant requirement every year remains around 2.5 lakhs (this trend is going to continue for the next 20 years), the list of eligible occupations for the most popular category called Federal Skilled Workers (FSW) has been made much shorter during the past few years.

The list of 24 occupations is much skewed favoring certain professions like engineers, IT professionals, geologists and medical technologists etc. Again, not everybody matching occupations in this list will be qualified for immigration visa. The candidates are assessed by referring to 6 criteria under the point system of selection.

They should be in the right age, with adequate number of years of experience and proficient in English language proven by a test score of the International English language Testing System (IELTS).

Canadian immigration policy does not want the foreign trained young professionals to be left out in this selection process. The young professionals who do not have the adequate work experience for FSW program can make themselves qualified under another program called Canadian Experienced Class (CEC). Candidates with at least one year of work experience within Canada are accepted under this class. Young graduates from foreign countries achieve this by taking up a suitable study program in Canada and subsequently a job in Canada. They are eligible to apply for Permanent Resident Visa under CEC the moment they complete one year of work in Canada.

In fact, this is a smart option and it has many advantages. Going under study visa gets you to Canada within six months instead of the wait time of 20 months required for FSW immigration. Your Canadian education will increase your employability in Canada manifold.

You will have a gestation period of one year during your study to explore the employment market and work culture in Canada. You will start earning in dollars at least one year sooner. This makes a lot of sense when you look at the annual average salary of entry level positions for instance; engineers and IT professionals Rs 36 lakhs, Registered Nurse 30 lakhs, General Nurse Rs 24 lakhs, Live-in- Caregivers Rs 15 lakhs and so on.

Unless you go with a job offer from a Canadian employer (which is rare), your passport and air ticket are not enough to get you to Canada. When you are selected under FSW program, you will be asked to bring a settlement fund of about Rs 10 lakhs. When you go for one year study in Canada you will be spending about Rs 13 lakhs for tuition and living.

So, in either case, you have to arrange a fund to the tune of Rs 10 – 13 lakhs. Study visa can get you loan for this fund whereas banks will be reluctant to loan you for your immigration. Since you will be earning in dollars just after one year of study, you will be in a position to repay your study loan fast. Therefore, it makes sense to invest this money in your study in Canada.

Ever since the immigration policy introduced the CEC in 2009, the student influx from India increased from 6000 in 2009 to 14000 in 2012 leading to a swarm of 30,000 Indian students in Canada by December 2012.

A large number of them went to Canada aiming at the immigration corridors of CEC and opportunities under Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), another attractive immigration program separately run by Canadian provinces to meet their own immigration targets. Quite commensurate with this increased interest of international students in Canada, the annual intake of immigrants under CEC and PNP doubled during the period from 2009 to 2012.

There is a large population of unemployed or underemployed graduates in India’s North East Region where economy is in shambles and job creation is tardy. The young graduates and budding professionals from India’s NER should wake up to this new happening and stop languishing. This may be the smart way of immigrating to Canada!

Contact
Dr. Khomdon Lisam,
Canada Resource Centre, Imphal.
E-mail: [email protected].

Or
Dr. Raj Singh,
Associate Consultant, Globex Immigration and Legal Services Toronto.
Phone: 416 222 2115 (Off),
Email: [email protected].
Website: www.globexintl.ca).