Executive Summary
COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant impact on the international students’ community in Canada due to the adverse effects of the abiding policies. The populace encountered challenges during the pandemic due to the immigration status. As a result, it is crucial to establish core practice values and policies that support welfare among the counterparts. This study focuses on the implication of Canadian government relief programs that marginalize international students. Apart from the exclusion by the executive administration, dynamic social movements, both domestic and international, establish inherent measures that improved the interdependent relationship. There are distinct challenges affecting the international student community in Canada under the spectrum of economic hurdles.
The study focuses on the exploration of the counterparts’ population and expenditure pattern in the country before and during the pandemic. Further, the research assesses the cost implications to cater for the adjustment and the effect of reduced enrolment among the international students. Primarily, it is the responsibility of relevant stakeholders to coordinate towards advancing the factors contributing to a healthy living quotient among international students in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The findings establish an optimal paradigm shift in the scaling of international students’ enrolment in Canadian colleges and universities. The restriction of movement and economic activities adeptly influenced the cost implications among the vulnerable population. The Canada government lost a significant number of laborers, full-time jobs, and gross domestic income percentage from the international student populace. Notably, COVID-19 aptly affected all scopes of the Canadian region under the gradient of attributable benefits from the international student’s community. It is the responsibility of the relevant stakeholders to implement policies that support preventive mechanism and the welfare of the group due to the profound contribution to the socio-cultural and economic foundations of the nation.
Introduction
The lethal implication of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the living quotient among people in Canada due to the economic lockdown and restriction of movement and human contact. One of the significantly vulnerable populations in Canada during the pandemic entails international students. According to a report by El-Assal (2020, para.1), in the past few years, the international students’ populace in Canada tripled to at least 600,000. There is a profound benefit from the influx of the group since it contributes to optimal cultural practice exchange while boosting economic growth and development through intensified transactions. In 2018, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada [IRCC] (2019, para.4) indicate that international students contributed $21.6 billion to the country’s gross domestic product. The positive impact prompted the Canadian government to implement policies enhancing the increase in the international students as a socio-cultural and economic benefit to the residents. Nevertheless, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic elevated the international students’ vulnerability due to their immigration status hence the importance of understanding the distinctive quotients affecting the counterparts’ living quotients.
Discussion
The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic to Individual’s Health Index
The spread of COVID-19 is mainly through physical touch, hence the emergence of social distancing and isolation. The disease has an incubation period of fourteen weeks. During this period, the patient can spread the virus through the physical touch of common surface areas, objects, and materials (World Health Organization, 2019, pg.2). In essence, the prevention techniques from COVID-19 encompass regular hygiene practice, namely, washing hands, keeping social distance, and staying at home. The illness posed a profound threat to international students in Canada due to the intensified social engagements during the learning process. The imminent risk further amplifies based on the profound incubation period of two weeks hence the chance to prominently spread across the population. The primary symptoms of the disease include pneumonia, dry cough, headaches, and fever.
Although there are records of recovered patients, it is a phenomenon that is limited to a few individuals with a robust immune system. However, the disease is perilous among the elderly, children, and individuals with compromised immune systems. In this case, it becomes necessary to implement quarantine measures to reduce the spread. Self-isolation is social distancing strategies that enhanced the reduced spread of the disease. A significant percentage of the students quarantined while others used the opportunity to undertake online classes (Li & Lalani, 2022, para.1). Despite the lack of a cure, treating symptoms and promoting prevention techniques fosters the effective reduction of its impact on the population and minimal implication to learning process among the international students through virtual platforms.
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Social Movements
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic fostered a dynamic impact on social movements while propelling Canadian societies’ existing inequalities. The prominent issues that affect the international student community include racial, unemployment, and social justice disparities. Subedi et al. (2020, para.2) establishes that the pandemic led to many deaths among the minority groups due to the lack of access to healthcare services. Quaife et al. (2020, para.1) argues that COVID-19 affected society and the dynamism of movements. However, both researchers establish that the pandemic is geared for institutional and societal change due to the significant disparity reflected through the spectrum of a recorded number of deaths and infections among the minority. COVID-19 rendered the economy’s lockdown, a phenomenon that highly affected the minority groups employed in the low-income sectors while illuminating the inequities across Canadian citizens.
There is a significant interdependent relationship between the social movements and the welfare of the international student community in Canada. According to research by Staff (2021, para.1), it was reported at least 90,000 infections, and 43 deaths from coronavirus were recorded in 2021. World Health Organization (WHO) (2020) depicts that the illness is not discriminated against based on the dynamic demographic features; therefore, it is the individual responsibility to uphold preventive measures. WHO (2020) further indicates that the highly vulnerable personnel encompass aging, indigenous populace, people with chronic illnesses, and low-income families. As immigrants, international students encountered apt challenges accessing necessities due to the lack of recognition as a vulnerable group globally, prompting foreign governments to implement policies to enhance the protection of the marginalized group.
The Canadian government addressed the health crisis by ensuring the shutting down of universities and public places to reduce instances of people overcrowding. The economic lockdown fostered the intensification of social and financial costs among the Canadian residents. Therefore, the administration focused on providing relief under the spectrum of social and financial mainframes among the vulnerable entities. However, the international students faced a profound survival threat since the government relief program excluded the populace as non-permanent residents. In a study, the researcher articulates a significant percentage of the international students from developing countries proficiently encountered hurdles regarding their life circumstances, future and family during the pandemic (Gomez et al., 2020, para1). As a result, the issue intensified based on the implication of COVID-19 pandemic measures in Canada. There was a high risk of the counterparts experiencing psychological, mental, and social distress due to the lack of effective protection mechanisms from the host country and the consequences of the pandemic.
Social movements significantly contribute to the balance of power and distribution of benefits within a region and community. Public actions address issues experienced across the global population, such as social and health justice. Krieger (2020, pg.1620) postulates that civic movements significantly contribute to health justice encompassing the ideology of easy accessibility of medical benefits among all Canadian citizens. According to the researcher, it is essential for the activists to advocate for healthcare measures from the government that foster the trickle-down effect of healthcare services among the minority racial communities such as African Americans (Krieger, 2020, pg.1621). Krieger (2020, pg.1623) stipulates that social movements contribute to justice, and it is an ethical practice to steer institutions in separating capitalism from the core framework. In this case, the COVID-19 implication intensified the vulnerability status among the international students due to the lack of recognition by the civil associations during the policy planning and implementation process.
Impact of COVID-19 on National and International Economy
COVID-19 is a global health crisis that significantly affects the business environment at an international level. In a research study by Cowling et al. (2020, pg.593), the researchers argue that one solution to curb the spread of the virus involves the closure of non-essential enterprise outlets. The advent of COVID-19 is an issue that encompasses the sociological compass of human beings, that is, interactions and engagements. Therefore, the researchers establish that the main challenge that small and medium corporate outlets face enshrine the solution to curbing the spread of COVID-19 (Engidaw, 2022, para.8). COVID-19 is primarily a health crisis that reconstructs the international trading practices; hence the highly negative impact on the small and medium venture.
The economic closure caused by the spread of COVID-19 negatively affected Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) outlets’ operations. One of the features of SMEs is limited financial resources. Engidaw (2022, para.7) stipulate that the emergence of the health crisis stimulated an economic crisis due to the shutdown of schools, restriction of movements, and social interactions. Additionally, SMEs in Canada face a profound challenge from the international lockdown under the mainframe of decrease in sales (Li et al., 2022, para.3). Cowling et al. (2020, pg.597) further establish that the provision of necessary liquidity for SME ventures relies on locally based operations. However, the movement’s restriction became a hindrance in achieving the common goal of boosting SME financial structure, hence increasing the risk of business shutdowns and loss of employment.
Over the decades, discrimination and marginalization of communities is an ideology significantly prevalent across nations. A profound percentage of international student population prefer studying in Canadian universities due to the surplus in the learning materials and employment opportunities hence the optimal socio-cultural and economic impact (Balu, 2021, para.1). However, the advent of COVID-19 fostered a paradigm shift based on the abounding effective policies that protect the population. Although the individuals share immigration status as learners, the initiative posed an optimal challenge among their counterparts. COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected different facets of the university institutions and the country’s economic pillars. The imposition of new policies on interaction and movement aptly influenced trading practices. Researchers establish that a significant percentage of international students seek jobs in SMEs to fund their daily expenses (Changes to Canada summer jobs program to help businesses and young Canadians affected by COVID-19, 2020, para.1). However, majority of small and medium corporations shut down due to the implication of the implemented COVID-19 measures. This study explores the impact of COVID-19 on the international students in Canada under the spectral view of health index, social movements, and the economy.
International Students in Canada and COVID-19
Different international students encountered dynamic challenges based on emotional and financial turmoil. The lack of Canadian government policy inclusivity strategy for the vulnerable populace sparked optimal debate globally concerning the practice of human rights indiscriminate of national identity. According to the international human rights laws, safeguarding public health risks applies to residents and non-residents as a formative strategy to enhance the global network and coordination in promoting higher living standards (United Nations, 2022, para.4). The neglection of the vulnerable group risks intensified tension among countries based on the necessity to enhance humanitarian efforts despite the social status or ethnic affiliations.
A country’s executive administration’s responsibility is to incorporate policies that promote equality despite ethnic affiliations. United Nations (2022, para.2) further demonstrates that the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights established that all people, regardless of origin, have the right to necessities, namely, housing, food, and education. The exclusion of the international students from the national emergency program discriminated against and marginalized their counterparts despite the harsh conditions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The inefficiency of Canadian government involvement in enhancing international students’ welfare risks the reputation and safety measures for additional students choosing Canadian universities as the preferred study destination.
One of the core practices that significantly mitigate the adverse effects of COVID-19 among international students is the advancement of the social work response system. Civic work is a multifaceted phenomenon encompassing the intersection of distinctive values and practices among participants to boost living quotients. Therefore, the main goal encapsulates promoting equality among the stakeholders. According to the Social Work License Map (2022, para.1), implementing effective remedies for international students encompasses the program’s consideration of micro, mezzo, and macro levels. At the micro-level, the professionals assist the individuals to enhance their resilience from the distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic measures. The mezzo phase involves engaging with the university management team to implement strategies to cater to the marginalized group’s needs during the pandemic. The macro category enshrines the inclusivity of executive government officials in the implementation of policies cushioning the international student’s welfare. The process advances the response system functionality and relative coordination among entities concerning the interdependent nature of the institutions.
Conclusion
The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly influenced international students’ welfare in Canada due to the dynamic variables. On the one hand, during the pre-pandemic era, a profound percentage of the populace aptly enrolled for courses in Canadian universities due to the learning materials and employment opportunities. However, the economic lockdown as a preventive mechanism to spread COVID-19 fostered optimal distress among the counterparts. Further, the government relief program indicates that only Canadian residents receive the benefits. The initiative fostered a prominent controversy that elevated the vulnerability status among international students. It is recommended that social movements, executive administrations, and university officials coordinate towards incorporating measures boosting the living quotient among the personnel.
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