a w\e" Most Immediate Fax Message TRI ¢ From: _Parep Toronto To: Foreign Islamabad Repeated to: Chairman HEC, M/o Education & Professional Training Islamabad M/o Overseas Pakistanis & HRD Islamabad, M/o Education (Punjab, KPK, Balochistan, Sindh, GB, AJK) No. Tor. 16/2020 (SDS) Dated: 21 July 2020 Repeated to: Chairman ‘ederal Secretary Education & Professional Training, Islamabad; Federal Secretary Overseas & HRD Islamabad; Secretary Higher Education Department Punjab; Secretary School Education Department Punjab; Secretary High Education, Archives & Libraries Department KPK; Secretary Education, GB, Secretary Education Balochistan; Secretary Education & Literacy, Sindh; and Secretary Education, AIK. Subject: New measures to facilitate international students in Canada In the wake of COVID-19 and related travel restrictions, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRC) has introduced a two-stage approval process through which international students can start the semester online without a finalized study permit. The Canadian border is currently closed to most international students, except for those whose study permits were issued before noon on 18 March 2020. International students can take advantage of this temporary process until 15 September 2020 in order to apply for their study permit in the following two stages: i. Atthe first stage, which is much like the regular study-permit process, international students have to submit: = letter of acceptance; - Cartificat d’acceptation du Québec (for Quebec students only); - proof of funds; - proof that they can leave Canada when they no longer have legal temporary or permanent status; and Any family ties to Canada, ii, Upon completion of the above, the concemed immigration officer will assess these applications and issue what is called pre-approval. International students can begin studying at this stage. iii, At the second stage and in order to get the full study permit (enabling the travel to Canada), international students will need to submit: - Immigration medical examination; - Security-Police certificate; and - Biometric. II2. The above two stages, however, are not valid for international students applying under the Student Direct Stream (SDS) for which submission of full application is mandatory. It may be noted that international students from China, India, Morocco, Pakistan, Philippines, Senegal and Vietnam are eligible to apply under SDS which aims to process study permits within three weeks (However, IRC has notified that due to current situation, there may be delays). 3. For the students who wish to apply for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) to work in the country after they graduate, full study permit is needed. International students will now be able to do half of their programme online and still be eligible for the work permit that could allow them to stay in Canada for at least three more years. The PGWP is important because it enables international students to get the Canadian work experience that is needed to be eligible for Canadian permanent residence. 4, Pakistan was added to the coveted SDS list in July 2019 after concerted efforts of this Mission. It would be too early to assess the real impact of SDS in the increase of international students in Canada, especially in the backdrop of global hold up due to COVID-19. All stakeholders in Pakistan need to take, interalia, the following measures aimed at increasing the number of Pakistani students in Canada: i, Launching campaigns in schools and colleges to familiarize students with the SDS process; ii, Developing an oversight mechanism and close monitoring of various agents and other stakeholders involved in the process of guiding the interested students, submission of applications until the final outcome; and iii. Collection of data on the number of applications, approved and refused cases of visas and reasons for refusals. Such data will be useful not only for the stakeholders in Pakistan in order to guide prospective students in the right direction, but will also enable this Mission to work towards removing the bottlenecks, if any, by taking up the issues with the host government. 5. Two annexes on the composition of international students in Canada are attached. 6. This is for information and further necessary action please. Wier vg (Abdul Hameed) Consul General Y 4Annexure I ‘The number of incoming students from selected count Jast five Country 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 India 48,765 76,095 123,190 171,730 219,855 ‘Vietnam: 4,850 7,435 13,905 20,185 21,595 Tran 4,505 5,115 7,310 10,535 14,745 Bangladesh | 2,685 3,060 4,230 6,420 8,490 Pakistan 4,005 4,165 4,025, 3,935 | 4,050. Source: IRCCAnnexure II ‘The composition of international study body in Canada in 2019 With an increase of 13% over the previous year, there were 642,480 international students in Canada at all levels of study in 2019. Countries with fastest growing number of international students in Canada during 2017-2019 were Morocco (458%), Philippines (+54%), Colombia (+41%), Iran (+40%), Bangladesh (+32%), Ivory Coast (+30%) and Senegal (+25%). As of December 2019, students from India made up 34% of total international students in Canada followed by China (22%), France, South Korea (4% each) and Vietnam (+3%). Top ten source countries in terms of number of students in Canada are as follows: S.No | Country ‘Number of Students L India 219,855 2. China 141,400 3. South Korea 24,180 4. France 24,045 5. Vietnam 21,595, 6. USA 15,015 7 Tran’ 14,745 8. Brazil 14,560 9. Nigeria 11,985 (Jo. [Mexico 8,710 Source: IRCC Bangladesh is ranked 11" with 8,490 students, Philippines is 13" with 7,70 students, Morocco is 17" with 4,530 students while Pakistan is at 19" place with a total number of 4,050 students.