Contextualising international student migration to Canada: the case of Indian Punjab youths

In Contextualising international student migration to Canada: the case of Indian Punjab youths, Kriti Sharma and Ito Peng present findings from interviews with 34 students enrolled at International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in Punjab, India. All of these students share the goal of migrating to Canada to both study and settle. Using an “aspirations-capabilities” framework, the authors examine the students’ goals, perceptions, and decision-making processes within the context of local, national, and global immigration, education, and economic policies.

Kriti Sharma is a PhD student in Sociology at the University of Toronto and RA for the Care Economies in Context Project.

Ito Peng is the Canada Research Chair in Global Social Policy, Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at the Department of Sociology and the School of Public Policy and Governance, and the Director of the Centre for Global Social Policy.

Citation

Sharma, K. & Peng, I. (2025). Contextualising international student migration to Canada: the case of Indian Punjab youths. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2025.2503960

Abstract

The magnitude and persistence of the international student flow from the Indian Punjab to Canada over the last decade presents a compelling case for International Student Migration research, yet empirical data on this specific phenomenon is scant. We address this gap through a thematic analysis based on interviews with 34 Punjabi students aspiring for Canadian education. We investigate Punjabi student migration as the complex interplay between individual motivation and the social and territorial structures in which students are located when they decide to migrate. We apply the aspirations-capabilities framework to highlight the ways in which bounded individual agency is exercised by students within national and international policy contexts. Our analysis reveals a blurring of the line between ‘migration for education’ and ‘education for (im)migration’. While many students sought economic benefits, they also aimed to escape Punjab for personal growth in a more ‘liberal’ and ‘modern’ society, a desire especially
strong among women. At the micro level, students’ perceived capabilities (e.g. part-time work, reliance on social networks), influence their real financial capabilities; at the macro level, Canada’s previously permissive immigration policies made it a preferred destination. However, recent restrictive changes in immigration policy create new challenges for Punjabi students’ education-migration aspirations.