Are you experiencing road blocks to your planned study abroad experience here in Canada? From my perspective as an international student support agent I can say there has been a definitive slow down in international student travel to Canada, especially in these difficult times of the COVID 19 crisis.
In my conversations with sending schools and students abroad there has been so much uncertainty in international study abroad. Part of the issue reflected is uncertainty of study travel. As every country has different travel rules, students don't often know what the requirements are in their own country as well as the requirements of travel and entry to Canada. Then there is the uncertainty of once you get here can you get home if the need arrives?
At present Canada's borders are open to International students wishing to come here to study. All you need is proof that you have had two COVID-19 Vaccinations of an approved vaccine before travelling. Student travelling to Canada must use the ArriveCan app which can be downloaded at https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/arrivecan.html
Also on this site is good information about travelling to Canada and any changing restrictions.
Some students are staying in their home countries because of uncertainty as to whether schools in Canada are accepting students for in person classes. For obvious reasons students do not wish to pay a lot of money only to experience online education. In talking to all the register Designated Learning Institutions (DLI's) that I represent here in Canada. All of them are open for business. Classes for the most part are all in person with the only restrictions being a daily health check i.e. if you feel ill don't go to school, classes are set up for positive self distancing i.e. staying 6 ft. apart and mandatory masking with regular hand disinfection. Some Post Secondary institutions are doing what they call hybrid programs. These are where students go to classes several days per week and then also do online learning which during these times is a good compromise.
Some provinces in Canada are now also instituting vaccine passports. These are a digital proof that you have been vaccinated that can be linked to a QR Code on your phone or you can carry a printable copy on your person. Vaccine passport well controversial, are good way for businesses and facilities to keep unvaccinated people from entering, therefore encouraging the public to take the steps to be vaccinated. Vaccine passports will be something extra that you can expect in Canada once you arrive. Canada is ahead of many nations in terms of vaccination of the population, but there is still many people that do not wish to get vaccinated.
For the most part the world of international study abroad is slowly reopening and I remain optimistic when looking forward to 2022-2023 forward. Many institutions are already seeing a rebound, with students coming for successful program experiences.
What kinds of issues are you running into in your own countries?
I would love to hear from students so we can get a more global perspective and perhaps work through restrictions and provide other students with extra advice.
Have you been travelling already? What kinds of experiences have you had already? Positive experiences? Negative experiences? How did you overcome them? Drop us a note or join in this forum as we would be excited to hear from you!!!😊