Canada: College offers housing amid Indian student protest

However, three days later, the college administration and students reached an agreement, with the latter promising to take their requests for inexpensive housing into account, according to Indian Express reports. 

The protesting students in Canada had been residing in tents near the college grounds. Over 3,500 foreign students arrived in Canada at the beginning of the new academic year, which starts in September. Students found it difficult to locate reasonable lodging due to high rents and North Bay’s small size. 

The Montreal Youth Students’ Organization (MYSO) supported the protesting Indian students in Canada and termed the situation as a ‘housing crisis’. 

“All of the Canadore students involved in the demonstrations this week at the Commerce Court Campus are currently being housed. We will provide more updates next week,” said a spokesperson for the college as quoted by Indian Express. 

The MYSO also assured that accommodation will be arranged for the Indian students at affordable prices and full fees will be refunded if students wish to transfer elsewhere, the report added. 

Following the protests, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau also emphasized relief for students struggling with the increasing cost of living. 

This came after a 17-year-old high school student was assaulted at a bus stop after an altercation with another teenager in Canada’s British Columbia province. The student was reportedly attacked with beer of beer or pepper spray by another teenage student after exiting a public transit bus on his way home on September 11.

It’s the second attack on a Sikh student in the central Interior city this year. Earlier in March, a 21-year-old Sikh student from India, Gagandeep Singh, was attacked in British Columbia province by a group of unknown men who ripped off his turban and dragged him across the sidewalk by his hair.

Updated: 18 Sep 2023, 11:44 AM IST