As Canada’s study permit system comes under greater scrutiny after it emerged that a Pakistani national, arrested on terrorism-related charges last week, was in the country as an international student, others find they are being scapegoated for the failures of the immigration system.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, was arrested from Ormstown, Que last week and faces terrorism charges in both Canada and the United States as he was allegedly planning major attacks in New York City targeting the Jewish community. On Tuesday, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller confirmed Khan had entered Canada on a study visa in May 2023.

That development will add to the anti-immigration sentiment already present in Canada, as a shelter affordability crisis has been linked to the heavy influx, especially of temporary residents like students. These students, many of whom are now in the country on post-graduate work permits face an increasingly uncertain future.

That has led to an indefinite protest in the town of Brampton in the Greater Toronto Area or GTA organised by the activist group Naujawan Support Network.

Among its principal organisers is Bikramjit Singh, originally from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab, who said according to their estimates, nearly 130,000 ex-international students will see their work permits expire at the end of this year and 2025 and will face potential deportation since pathways to permanent residence have become 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, said.

Their indefinite protest began last Friday and will continue till their demands are met. Those include extending work permits, providing post-graduate work permits to all international students and a fair pathway to PR.

At this time, he said, desperate students are filing for refugee claims or trying to illegally enter the United States or even entering into marriages, to maintain their status in Canada.

Being ignored by Canadian politicians is a different experience from the one former international students from India had last year when many faced deportation as forged documents were used by immigration consultants to procure their study permits.

That protest began in May last year and ended later in the summer as the Canadian Government announced an amnesty for those who had genuinely come to study in the country. That came about due to pressure from MPs and political leaders who even joined the protestors at their encampment.

This year’s protest is different as conditions have changed, including the sympathy Canadians had for their plight and the presence of politicians across parties. “Majority of society is against us and politicians are staying away,” Bikramjit Singh said.