It follows a slew of media attention at the end of 2024 into a probe by India’s financial law enforcement agency into criminals claimed to be using Canadian study visas as part of a “well-panned conspiracy” to smuggle people over the border into the US.
According to the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), two organisations involved – which it has not yet named – work on a commission basis with over 250 Canadian higher education institutions.
But Alex Usher, president of Higher Education Strategy Associates, isn’t entirely convinced by the claims in the ED’s press release into its investigation.
“It’s striking to me how little detail there was in that report,” he told The PIE News. “It said we we have raided the offices of two entities who send a lot of people abroad. Well…they’re agents. That’s what they do.”
He added: “The key thing is, does that mean that they were in cahoots with the people smuggling? And there’s just no evidence. None. Zero.”
The reports come at a time when diplomatic tensions between India and Canada are at an all-time high – with both countries last year expelling diplomats over accusations that Indian agents were involved in the killing of a prominent Canadian-Sikh activist, Harjinder Singh Nijjar.
“I believe it [the reports] could be true. But there is no evidence – the Indian government has not provided evidence. The government chose not to provide any evidence when it released that press release,” Usher told The PIE, noting that the ED, while accountable to the Indian government, operates as an independent investigative agency.
The ED’s investigation comes after scrutiny into the Dingucha case, which looked into the deaths of the Patels – a Gujarati family of four who lost their lives when they illegally tried to cross the US’s northern border in late 2022.
“It’s hard to see what’s new here. We know that the Patels came over on a student visa and later tried to cross the border. The idea that any Canadian institutions or even any agents, large aggregators, knew about it or colluded in it – there’s just no evidence,” said Usher.
The idea that any Canadian institutions or even any agents, large aggregators, knew about it or colluded in it – there’s just no evidence
Alex Usher, Higher Education Strategy Associate
However, he conceded that until a few years ago, Canadian visa policy was “incredibly lax”, meaning that prospective international students didn’t even have to provide the name of the institution they were heading to.
Since November 2024, Canadian institutions have had to report on the enrolment status of their students twice a year. Penalties for failing to do so have also been mandatory since then.
A compliance report must be submitted to the government within 60 days of one being requested – meaning that Canada’s rules for reporting International students who fail to enrol are the least strict of the big four study nations.
The Dingucha case and the ensuing ED investigation has rocked the international education sector, with some calling the “truly shocking” reports a “wake up call” for stakeholders.
For its part, Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICAN) said that the country’s institutions are “committed to student safety and to the integrity of the immigration system – including a well-managed international student program”.
“Colleges and Institutes Canada has no details on the nature of the colleges reportedly involved in these recent allegations,” it added.
Meanwhile, writing for The PIE, MM Advisory Services founder Maria Mathai has called for Canadian institutions to “reassess how they operate in India” following questions over recruitment practices in the country.
