International Students Cash-Strapped And Trapped Amidst Covid-19 Crisis
This is the first in a two-part series on the challenges faced by international students amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
MONCTON – Kay Matthew, an NBCC Moncton student from Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean, lost her income when Casino NB suspended its operations in March and remains closed today.
“I’m not getting an income anymore, and they cannot tell us when they will reopen again so it’s a very big cloud of uncertainty where that’s concerned,” said the single mother of two. “I’m living off of my basic savings, which is dwindling fast because I’m paying rent, I have no other support.”
She came to Moncton in September to study in the hotel and restaurant management program and began working part-time jobs in November – first at Walmart, and later at the Casino’s restaurant. While some international students can access the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), Matthew can’t because she didn’t meet the minimum $5,000 income in the previous year to qualify.
She also doesn’t qualify for the Canada Child Care Benefit, which has been increased due to Covid-19, even though one of her children is Canadian, because she hasn’t been here for at least 18 months.
As part of the study permit application, international students entering Canada must show that they have enough funds for tuition as well as approximately $10,000 for the year. The amount is higher if the student has family members accompanying them. In Matthew’s case, she would have had to show enough funds for tuition – about $9,300 a year at NBCC Moncton – plus $17,000 for her and her children.
But the job was meant to help her with living costs for the family and to save for upcoming tuition payments.
“I was highly dependent on that job to supplement my income to pay rent, and do all of that,” said Matthew, whose sons are currently out of school. “Yes, we should have had enough savings to take us through the school year. But realistically, an income would help with any incidentals, especially when you have children that you have to support.”
“Losing the job is one thing, but the uncertainty of not knowing when all of this will end is the most scary part of it. I don’t know when I’m going to be able to return to work, how long this is going to last.”
Food, Housing and Financial Insecurities
Husoni Raymond, a recent graduate and former president of St. Thomas University’s Student Union, said he’s heard from many international students in similarly cash-strapped positions.
While the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) is aimed at helping students, it excludes international students. Eligibility information for the Canada Student Service Grant, which offers up to $5,000 to students contributing to national efforts to fight Covid-19, has not been released yet.
Many international students can’t go home due to travel restrictions and airline limitations, Raymond said. There’s also the fear of contracting Covid-19 if they travel, and the fear of not being able to return to Canada to continue their studies.
Many also rely on funding support from their families, many of whom lost their income during the pandemic. They’ve also seen their summer job placements cancelled, while at the same time, they don’t qualify for employment through the Canada Summer Jobs program.
“So we have them stuck in Canada, unable to gain employment, with no revenue, and they still have bills to pay for rent and groceries,” says Raymond.
University of New Brunswick’s International Students’ Society (UNBISS), which represents around 900 international students, says many students are stuck in Fredericton even if they want to go home for temporary financial relief.
The group conducted an online survey at the Fredericton campus, finding that of 55 respondents, 80 percent say the pandemic threatens their housing and food security. The survey results were communicated to the university’s president in an open letter asking for support that was posted on the organization’s Facebook page.
The survey also found 95 percent of the students are also not eligible for the criteria set out under the CERB or other government assistance programs, while support from their countries of origin remains very limited. Additionally, the letter notes that 60 percent of international students rely on their own funding to pay for books, tuition, rent and other living expenses.
“They are facing significant food, housing and financial insecurities, which will only worsen as this crisis endures,” the letter stated.
UNBISS President Raven-Lee Mills said they haven’t heard back from the university about the letter. UNBISS also sent a letter to the office of MP Jenica Atwin on May 21, but have not received a response.
Sydona Chandon, a second-year Jamaican student at STU, is among those feeling cash-strapped. She’s been working part-time as a personal support worker at a facility for adults with mental illness in Fredericton. She makes just a little over $1,000 a month, so she doesn’t qualify for the CERB.
“I still have my job, but at the same time I have to pay rent each month, which is $500 per month and I also have to save towards tuition because my parents back home are currently out of a job because of Covid-19,” she said.
Before the pandemic, she relied on a summer job and a part-time job, but she’s nervous that she won’t get as many hours this summer. She says saving for tuition fees of more than $16,000 a year is difficult if she has to rely on just one part-time job.
“It’s hard for our mental health. It’s hard to really think of ways to get out of this situation or find support in other areas,” she said.
She says some kind of support from the Canadian government – like allowing international students to access federal and provincial student loans and the CESB – would help. She’s also willing to take a frontline job at grocery stores or other retailers to boost her income, though she’s worried it would expose her more to Covid-19.
I feel as international students we contribute so much to the economy and not being able to gain some form of support from the government…It’s almost like we’re on our own, we have to fend for ourselves in this unprecedented time,” said Chandon.
Now, she’s faced with the possibility of ending her educational journey in Canada earlier than planned.
“Thinking about that is hard because I’ve already [invested] so much…I’m basically half-way through my degree, and if I’m forced to stop because of this right now, it will be really hard to really comprehend and push on, to be able to restart,” she said. “Each day is just really draining and hard on my mental health because I really wish to finish my degree in Canada.”
“It’s kind of hard to really be calm and not stress, because right now, there’s no realistic way to come out of this.”
International Students Key In Immigration Strategy
Attraction and retention of international students are identified as key in New Brunswick’s immigration strategy, as well as for the cities of Moncton and Fredericton. The Greater Moncton immigration strategy through 2024 aims to double the international student base, including at private universities and colleges, to 3,000 in four years.
According to a study by Jupia Consultants and commissioned by the New Brunswick Multicultural Council in 2019, 6,960 immigrants plus more than 900 international students that have come to the province between 2011 and 2016 have had a direct impact of $516 million to the province’s GDP. The figure excludes contributions from immigrant-owned businesses.
Overall, including indirect and induced effect, recent immigrants and international post-secondary students support 11,680 jobs, the report found.
RELATED: Report Says Newcomers Contribute $168 Million To Provincial Budget Each Year
Raymond, an award-winning student from Jamaica, was involved with the Canadian Student Alliance, which advocates for international students to be included in the CESB. He says the exclusion from federal programs is “very disappointing and very problematic,” and goes against the narrative of an inclusive and welcoming Canada that international students are shown when they are recruited.
He said international students are important to the Canadian economy not only because of the tuition fees they paid to universities, which are typically about double the price for local students, but they also work, pay taxes and spend money in Canada. Now he’s concerned those students are facing housing or food insecurity.
Recently, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada provided some leniency on application deadlines and said online courses won’t impact students’ post-graduate work permit eligibility. It also loosened the 20-hour-a-week limit that international students are allowed to work off-campus during the academic year, as long as they’re doing essential work.
However, with the lockdowns happening close to the end of the school year, the change doesn’t affect much because the students were already allowed to work full-time hours in the summer, Raymond said.
“I think it’s problematic that the only help the government is giving international students is sending them to the front lines of essential services to risk their lives to just survive here,” Raymond said. “What about those who are immune-compromised and don’t have the capacity to put their lives on the line in an essential services job?”
Raymond says international students want to work. But taking himself as an example, he says all of his job interviews for the summer have been cancelled. He’s saved up much of his salary, but his contract ended in April, and because he didn’t lose the job due to Covid-19, he also doesn’t qualify for CERB.
“It’s really an anxiety-inducing situation and I know many international students have it even worse than myself,” said Raymond, who is scheduled to continue on to law school at York University in the fall.
When he shared about the experience on social media, he said he received comments that say “go home” and “Canadians first.”
“But all my working life I’ve been here working in Canada, paying taxes in Canada, I’ve been living here for four years,” he said.
Part two of this story explores supports that are available through universities and colleges: