Canada not closing doors to Indian students; envoy says now is the best time to apply

Canada is not shutting its doors to Indian students and may currently offer one of the best opportunities to apply for higher education, Canadian High Commissioner to India Chris Cooter said on Monday, seeking to address concerns over the country's immigration and student visa policies.

Speaking to ANI, Cooter said there is a misconception among Indian students and families that Canada has become less welcoming to international students following recent immigration changes.

"The reason is that there is a kind of misperception in India that Canada is shutting the doors. That is not at all the case," he told ANI.


The envoy acknowledged that Canada introduced a cap on international student intake a few years ago due to housing shortages and concerns about the quality of some institutions.

"It's true that a couple of years ago we did impose a cap because we had issues--there simply wasn't enough housing, there were some fly-by-night colleges, we wanted to clean that up. But we've done that," Cooter said.

He added that Canada continues to remain a major destination for international students and currently hosts around 400,000 students from overseas.

"And now we host 400,000 students in Canada. That's more than the EU, UK, and Australia combined. It's more than the US hosts," he said.

Efforts underway to improve student visa experience

Encouraging Indian students to consider Canada for higher education, Cooter said the country offers high-quality academic opportunities across universities and colleges.

"So yes, you are very, very welcome as students. And parents and students, please do consider Canada. We think that we provide a very high-quality education, whether that's university or polytechnic--we call them colleges," he said.

Highlighting the global reputation of Canadian institutions, he noted that several universities rank among the world's best.

"Many of our universities, for example, are in the top 100--McGill, University of Toronto in the top 20 or so," he said.

Cooter also stressed that the current international student intake remains below the cap imposed by the government, ANI reported.

"Students are welcome. We haven't even reached those caps. So actually, this is probably the best time ever to apply as an Indian student, because we want you there and there's space in these caps," he said.

Addressing concerns around visa processing, the envoy said Canadian authorities are working to improve the experience for students, parents and business travellers following Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to India earlier this year.

"Both the business people and the students tell us about the problems they have with getting the visa. It seems inconsistent or it takes too long," Cooter said.

"I can tell you that as a result of the Prime Minister's visit here only two and a half months ago, we're actively at work on fixing those problems, making the experience much better for the student, for the parent, for the business people," he added.

Cooter said Canada aims to improve visa services and make the process more efficient.

"I'd like to see us be best in class. If we have to have visas, let's do it better than everybody else. And so we are very actively working on that right now," he said.

(With inputs from ANI)