Why do so many international students in B.C. end up stuck in service jobs?
CBC
In a two-storey laneway house in East Vancouver's Killarney neighbourhood, packaged spices, pickle jars, and other ingredients and cutlery used to make Himalayan-style dumplings fill the kitchen and living room.
"My wife and I are gearing to start a business to sell traditional Nepali delicacies here," said 31-year-old Santosh Acharya.
But selling Nepalese food wasn't what Acharya had in mind when he first arrived in Vancouver in May 2018.
"I came as an international student to get a Master's degree in HR administration," he said, which he earned in Dec. 2019. "After completing my studies, I found it very tough to get a job in HR administration."
Acharya says he sent many applications but after being unable to land a job in his area of study, he had to contend with working in a restaurant where he has been working as a manager for the last three years.
Acharya is one of thousands of international students in B.C. who find themselves working low-paying service-sector jobs after spending up to four times more in undergraduate or postgraduate tuition fees compared to domestic students, says Jenny Francis, a faculty member at Langara College's department of Geography.
Over the last three years, Francis's research has captured the immigration, education, and employment experiences of about 1,300 international undergraduate students in the province. Among the people she surveyed, only 10 per cent said they earned more than $20 per hour.
In 2017, the most recent year for which data is available, international students contributed $22.3 billion to the Canadian economy and almost $4.7 billion to B.C.
With the number of study permit applications more than doubling since 2017 from about 313,000 to about 715,000 in 2022, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Francis estimates international students' contribution to be even more.
"They invest so much, come with high expectations but end up in this cycle of working for retail, warehouse, fast food, which aren't even enough to help them meet their needs," Francis said.
Francis says most international students lack necessary soft skills like communication. This is especially true for undergraduate students who have come to Canada without prior experience.
"They do not have the level of written or spoken English that employers are looking for," says Francis.
While Francis believes that it is easier for Master's degree holders to get a better job than undergraduate international students, a lack of Canadian work experience and professional networks can be limiting.
They also don't have access to services like WorkBC, which helps job seekers improve their skills and connect with employers, Francis adds.
Aggressive patients and lack of security are making nurses feel unsafe in a rural Western Manitoba emergency union, says the Manitoba Nurses Union.
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
WARNING: This story contains details of abuse and intimate partner violence:
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.