India's trafficking claims against Canadian colleges reveal 'exploited' immigration system, experts say

An investigation by Indian officials that alleges dozens of Canadian colleges and universities might be linked to a scheme of illegally ferrying students across the Canada-U.S. border reveals the "staggering" extent to which holes in the immigration system can be exploited, some experts say.

"If the allegations are true, it reveals shocking gaps in our integrity protocols.… This is deeply, deeply concerning and problematic," Raj Sharma, a Calgary-based immigration lawyer, told CBC News Network, adding that the allegations suggest "wide-scale human smuggling."

India's Enforcement Directorate said in a news release on Tuesday it had uncovered evidence of human trafficking involving two "entities" in Mumbai after probing the Indian connection to the Patel family, who froze to death in January 2022 while trying to cross the border from Manitoba into Minnesota during frigid weather conditions. 

The Enforcement Directorate said its investigation found that about 25,000 students were referred by one entity, with over 10,000 students referred by another entity to various colleges outside India every year. 

Arrangements would be made for the Indian nationals to be admitted to Canadian colleges and universities and apply for student visas, according to the Enforcement Directorate. 

But once the Indian nationals reached Canada, instead of joining the college, they illegally crossed the border from Canada into the U.S. and the fee received by the Canadian schools was remitted back to the individuals' account, the Enforcement Directorate said.

The investigation also revealed that around 112 colleges based in Canada entered into an agreement with one entity and more than 150 with another entity, the Enforcement Directorate said.

The allegations have not been proven in court and India has not identified the Canadian colleges allegedly involved.

Camille Boily-Lavoie, a spokesperson for the RCMP, said in an email to CBC News that it has reached out to India through its International Policing Liaison Officers to seek additional information about the investigations.

Colleges and Institutes Canada, a national advocacy organization for Canada's post-secondary education network, said that it had no details on the nature of the colleges reportedly involved in the Indian allegations.

The process of issuing study permit applications and acceptance is entirely managed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the student applicant and the post-secondary institution, said Dayna Smockum, a spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Colleges and Universities.

"The Ministry of Colleges and Universities has no role in this process," Smockum said in an email to CBC News. "As our government has repeatedly done, we continue to call on the federal government to enact more stringent border control measures to protect Ontario, our institutions, and all of Canada."

In an email to CBC News, the IRCC said that since 2023, it has focused on strengthening the integrity of the international student program.

It says it has introduced a cap on enrolment levels at Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) — schools approved by a provincial or territorial government to host international students.