Canada’s study permit system under scrutiny after Pak terror suspect enters country on student visa

A week after a Pakistani national, who entered Canada on student visa, was arrested over terrorism-related charges, Canada’s study permit system has comes under intense scrutiny even as many students feel they are being made scapegoats for the failures of the immigration system.

According to a Hindustan Times report, 20-year-old Muhammad Shahzeb Khan was arrested from Ormstown, Quebec last week and faces terrorism charges in both Canada and the US as he was allegedly planning major attacks in New York City targeting the Jewish community.

Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller on Tuesday confirmed that Khan had entered Canada on a study visa in May 2023.

Miller said Khan was granted a student visa in May 2023 and arrived in Toronto in June of that year. He said he wouldn’t provide any more details since the case is before the courts.

Authorities in the US allege Khan planned to use guns and knives to carry out a mass shooting in support of the Islamic State group on the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the latest conflict in the Middle East.

The Conservative opposition party in Canada have been demanding the government answer questions about how Khan was allowed into the country.

“We take any security breach and any entry into Canada very seriously," The Associated Press quoted Miller as saying.

“Let’s not be naïve. A determined individual can gain access to this country and that is for the security services inside our country to apprehend this person if they commit a crime or if they’re about to commit a crime,” he said.

Miller added that Canada’s police forces “did their jobs” by arresting the individual and that “we’ll let the court case take its course.”

The arrest and subsequent scrutiny of study permits is likely to exacerbate existing anti-immigration sentiments in Canada, where a crisis in shelter affordability has been linked to a large influx of temporary residents, particularly students. Many of these students, now in Canada on post-graduate work permits, are facing an increasingly uncertain future, reported Hindustan Times.

In response, the activist group Naujawan Support Network has organised an indefinite protest in Brampton, a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Bikramjit Singh, a key organiser from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab, told Hindustan Times that nearly 130,000 former international students are projected to see their work permits expire by the end of this year and in 2025, and could face potential deportation as pathways to permanent residence have become increasingly restricted.

He said they have received no assistance from Canadian politicians due to the anti-immigration sentiment currently prevalent.

“Because of the political scenario, they’re not doing anything. Also, we’re not voters,” Bikramjit Singh, who came to Canada as a student in 2019, was quoted as saying.

The indefinite protest, which started last Friday, will continue until their demands are met. These include extending work permits, issuing post-graduate work permits to all international students, and establishing a fair pathway to permanent residency.

Currently, some students are resorting to filing refugee claims, attempting to enter the US illegally, or entering into marriages to maintain their status in Canada.

This protest contrasts with last year’s situation, where former international students from India faced deportation due to forged documents used by immigration consultants. That protest, which began in May and ended in the summer, led to a government amnesty for those who had genuinely come to study, thanks to pressure from MPs and political leaders who joined the demonstrators.

With inputs from agencies