‘Think twice about studying in Canada; students returning in body bags’: Recalled Indian envoy Sanjay Verma

Recalled Indian envoy Sanjay Verma said students planning to travel to Canada for higher studies should think about it twice as many students ended up in substandard colleges and committed suicide due to lack of job opportunities. Verma said the ground reality in Canada "is not very encouraging".

Verma told PTI, “At one point of time in my tenure, at least two bodies of students were being sent to India in body bags per week. Rather than face their parents after failure, "they were committing suicide" Verma added. Verma served as India's high commissioner to Canada from 2022 and he was recalled recently following tensions in India-Canada relations over the murder of pro-Khalistan leader.

Verma asserted his advice would have been the same even if the relations between the countries were better. “They have gone there to dream of a future, and were returning in body bags. Parents should research colleges well before deciding,” he said. The MEA official charged unscrupulous agents were also responsible for the plight of the students as many students end up in little known colleges. He said students live in cramped dormitories there.

"Since classes are happening once a week, they will study (only) that much and their skill development will be accordingly. After that, say a student finishes higher education in engineering, so I will assume that he will do the job of an engineer. But you will see he is driving a cab, or selling chai and samosa at a shop. So, the ground reality there is not very encouraging," Verma told PTI.

As per government data, in the current year, 4,27,000 students are studying in Canada and 3,37,630 in the United States.

India recalled Verma earlier this month after Canada named the Indian High Commissioner and a few other diplomats as persons of interest in the probe into the killing of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.