Canada bans flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days...

[canuck78]

Sadly COVID is out of control in India that is why they banned direct flights from India but as I saw last night with own eyes, there was at least 50 students with Indian passports waiting for study permits having flown via Doha. If any of those were carrying the virus then if they went into shared accommodation then they might cause an outbreak. That said they should have had a pre-flight test so hopefully will be clean.

Within the 72 hours before boarding they could have caught covid, unfortunately some labs are also fake results and people could still test negative at the airport in Canada yet develop covid. Ontarians have had t stay home and close businesses but we are allowing people to arrive from a country that is on fire with covid. You essentially have to assume that most of the 50 people will have covid and a few will end up in hospital. Hopefully none will spread it to the community.

 

[YVR123]

These students might be from the lot that were given Student Permit way back. The reason I am saying is my friends who had applied for this Fall 2021 were asked to defer to Next Jan 2022. Most of the Consultants in India are asking Students to apply for next year. Something Positive news I have heard.

Students are not flying to spread Virus at least that is not the intention. I reckon Government should have revoked student permits or should have asked Colleges to defer academic to next year 2022 which would have closed this loophole. It's sad to see conversations like this as if Students are traveling to spread to another country. At some Point we all traveled to become residents or study here and that is exactly the intentions from these students. I agree there are few who do not follow the rules but again that cannot be attributed to entire county being wrong.

Not saying that they come to Canda to try to spread the virus. But I think most ppl would think that they do not carry or have it. But we really do not know for sure as symtoms develop days after. I think most would think that they are running away from the virus instead of bringing it with them.

The way I think is that I assume that I carry it and try to avoid contact with everyone. I think that would be the best for the community. But I do not think most ppl do that.

 

[Simba112]

These students might be from the lot that were given Student Permit way back. The reason I am saying is my friends who had applied for this Fall 2021 were asked to defer to Next Jan 2022. Most of the Consultants in India are asking Students to apply for next year. Something Positive news I have heard.

Students are not flying to spread Virus at least that is not the intention. I reckon Government should have revoked student permits or should have asked Colleges to defer academic to next year 2022 which would have closed this loophole. It's sad to see conversations like this as if Students are traveling to spread to another country. At some Point we all traveled to become residents or study here and that is exactly the intentions from these students. I agree there are few who do not follow the rules but again that cannot be attributed to entire county being wrong.

At this time, students shouldnt be flying to attend virtual learning... same way as Public Health officials urging residents not to travel outside their Health Regions, and they are issuing ticket. Its a common sense, not desperation

 

[Impatient Dankaroo]

The majority of these quarantine hotels are filled by indian students or prs which has resulted in huge anti-indian sentiment. Do yourself a favor and don't travel right now

 

[Topsy1970]

There is a reason this ban was put in place. Be responsible and don’t put Canadians at risk by trying to “beat the system” with travel work arounds. Stay in your country. Stop the spread!!!!

 

[arhue]

There is a reason this ban was put in place. Be responsible and don’t put Canadians at risk by trying to “beat the system” with travel work arounds. Stay in your country. Stop the spread!!!!

It's not "beating the system". As per the rules, you can exit India, enter a different country, do the Covid test there and fly to Canada. Transits without entering a transit country, even if you do the test in a third country are NOT allowed according to the terms set forth in the bilateral travel corridor. This was always the case, only direct flights are not allowed.

Student travel is termed as ESSENTIAL and NON-DISCRETIONARY by Government of Canada. That is the reason why students can travel to Canada in the first place.

I feel arguing if the rules are right/wrong or travelling to Canada without breaking any rules hurts the feelings of some people is beyond the scope of this forum. They are just opinions, which anyone, especially on the internet is free to have and it does not matter in any way.

If anyone follows all rules set forth by the government and travels to Canada, I do not see a problem with that.

 

[YVR123]

It's not "beating the system". As per the rules, you can exit India, enter a different country, do the Covid test there and fly to Canada. Transits without entering a transit country, even if you do the test in a third country are NOT allowed according to the terms set forth in the bilateral travel corridor. Student travel is termed as essential and non-discretionary by Government of Canada. That is the reason why students can travel to Canada in the first place.

I feel arguing if the rules are right/wrong or travelling to Canada without breaking any rules hurts the feelings of some people is beyond the scope of this forum. They are just opinions, which anyone, especially on the internet is free to have and it does not matter in any way.

If anyone follows all rules set forth by the government and travels to Canada, I do not see a problem with that.

You may not be used to how Canadian government works...We rarely implement rules to stop certain action. We recommand and hope that people will do their best to act according to the recommandation. e.g. Travel is discourage. They didn't BAN travelling within Canada (except crossing some province).
So we will try to "do what's best for our country" not to what suits us but won't break the law...

 

[Wiggy]

These students might be from the lot that were given Student Permit way back. The reason I am saying is my friends who had applied for this Fall 2021 were asked to defer to Next Jan 2022. Most of the Consultants in India are asking Students to apply for next year. Something Positive news I have heard.

Students are not flying to spread Virus at least that is not the intention. I reckon Government should have revoked student permits or should have asked Colleges to defer academic to next year 2022 which would have closed this loophole. It's sad to see conversations like this as if Students are traveling to spread to another country. At some Point we all traveled to become residents or study here and that is exactly the intentions from these students. I agree there are few who do not follow the rules but again that cannot be attributed to entire county being wrong.

I am not suggesting that they are deliberately spreading the disease but lectures are virtual anyway and the 30 day ban was set for a reason and it is a worry that people are appearing to bypass the rules and increase the risk for little real benefit.

 

[rogerdude1]

There seemed to be plenty of Indian students arriving at Toronto last night. They were coming on the Qatar Airlines flight from Doha

Qatar has banned all foreign nationals from travelling. It must be Dubai they are coming from (and not Indians because UAE has banned all flights from India too)

 

[Wiggy]

Well they arrived on the Doha flight and were carrying Indian passports

 

[Pk994]

i get all that everyone is saying and i understand the travel ban but, my husband is in a situation where he has to get back somehow. He had to travel to India on an unavoidable emergency and now he is stuck here while his PGWP is close to expiry! Can't apply for BOWP because he isn't in Canada! What about temporary workers like him? He has valid employment and residence there and would have avoided travel if he could but unfortunately, he is here now!

 

[arhue]

I am not suggesting that they are deliberately spreading the disease but lectures are virtual anyway and the 30 day ban was set for a reason and it is a worry that people are appearing to bypass the rules and increase the risk for little real benefit.

I want to make a few points. The government feels that student travel is essential and non-discretionary for good reason.

1. Many programs are not virtual and it is difficult to deliver them as such.
2. If you aren't in Canada for atleast 8 months, you do not get CRS points for PR.
3. There are tax residency headaches which arise because of limiting travel. If I travel after end of May I'm a tax resident of my home country, in addition to Canada. Many of such cases end up in expensive and lengthy court battles.
4. When people pay to study in Canada, they are also paying for co-op and/or residency in a foreign country.

Again I don't see what the problem is if all rules are diligently followed. I don't think scapegoating international students is fair when:

1. A lot of Canadians are not following quarantine and/or using land borders to cross in. My friend also told me that mask enforcement is extremely lax.
2. If I check stats, only 10k international students crossed in every month Q1 last year. Even if you assume that many crossed in this year, even though the numbers have dropped significantly because of Covid and quarantine requirements, the numbers don't add up. Inspite of 3 Covid tests(1 at home and 2 in Canada), 3 day hotel quarantine, 11 day home quarantine, screening for symptoms at both exit/entry points, even if 0.5-1% of the people are affected, you only have 1.5-3 people/day infected on average, which is nowhere near the 8500/day cases being reported.

 

[AalekhT]

There is no meaning of this discussion as the government will take decision as per their wish so those students who are stucked in india or pakistan for us its fault in our star. Move on from this endless discussion as nothing fruitful will come for it.

 

[A93]

I want to make a few points. The government feels that student travel is essential and non-discretionary for good reason.

1. Many programs are not virtual and it is difficult to deliver them as such.
2. If you aren't in Canada for atleast 8 months, you do not get CRS points for PR.
3. There are tax residency headaches which arise because of limiting travel. If I travel after end of May I'm a tax resident of my home country, in addition to Canada. Many of such cases end up in expensive and lengthy court battles.
4. When people pay to study in Canada, they are also paying for co-op and/or residency in a foreign country.

Again I don't see what the problem is if all rules are diligently followed. I don't think scapegoating international students is fair when:

1. A lot of Canadians are not following quarantine and/or using land borders to cross in. My friend also told me that mask enforcement is extremely lax.
2. If I check stats, only 10k international students crossed in every month Q1 last year. Even if you assume that many crossed in this year, even though the numbers have dropped significantly because of Covid and quarantine requirements, the numbers don't add up. Inspite of 3 Covid tests(1 at home and 2 in Canada), 3 day hotel quarantine, 11 day home quarantine, screening for symptoms at both exit/entry points, even if 0.5-1% of the people are affected, you only have 1.5-3 people/day infected on average, which is nowhere near the 8500/day cases being reported.

everyone looks for someone to blame, for now it's international students, but it's always easy to say when you're not in the situation, I have a colleague whose fiance is a canadian citizen, but she didn't want to go to canada by being dependent on him so she did the process for express entry and got her ITA but then covid happened, she's stuck since one year, and this is one of the kinder cases that I know of people being impacted due to bans. Bans never help, it's like giving an insulin injection, it's not treatment...anyway, I see people here being negative towards others, trying to justify, trying to blame, but it's always easier to preach. Someone suffers due to bans, always, and just because students are being disappointed and sad here, others are trying to be like politicians here and attacking them as if someone is happy to carry covid to canadian borders ‍

 

[Impatient Dankaroo]

I want to make a few points. The government feels that student travel is essential and non-discretionary for good reason.

1. Many programs are not virtual and it is difficult to deliver them as such.
2. If you aren't in Canada for atleast 8 months, you do not get CRS points for PR.
3. There are tax residency headaches which arise because of limiting travel. If I travel after end of May I'm a tax resident of my home country, in addition to Canada. Many of such cases end up in expensive and lengthy court battles.
4. When people pay to study in Canada, they are also paying for co-op and/or residency in a foreign country.

Again I don't see what the problem is if all rules are diligently followed. I don't think scapegoating international students is fair when:

1. A lot of Canadians are not following quarantine and/or using land borders to cross in. My friend also told me that mask enforcement is extremely lax.
2. If I check stats, only 10k international students crossed in every month Q1 last year. Even if you assume that many crossed in this year, even though the numbers have dropped significantly because of Covid and quarantine requirements, the numbers don't add up. Inspite of 3 Covid tests(1 at home and 2 in Canada), 3 day hotel quarantine, 11 day home quarantine, screening for symptoms at both exit/entry points, even if 0.5-1% of the people are affected, you only have 1.5-3 people/day infected on average, which is nowhere near the 8500/day cases being reported.

Stay home. The more people travel from India and other places, the longer the lockdown will be. People need to stop being selfish and think about the common good.

everyone looks for someone to blame, for now it's international students, but it's always easy to say when you're not in the situation, I have a colleague whose fiance is a canadian citizen, but she didn't want to go to canada by being dependent on him so she did the process for express entry and got her ITA but then covid happened, she's stuck since one year, and this is one of the kinder cases that I know of people being impacted due to bans. Bans never help, it's like giving an insulin injection, it's not treatment...anyway, I see people here being negative towards others, trying to justify, trying to blame, but it's always easier to preach. Someone suffers due to bans, always, and just because students are being disappointed and sad here, others are trying to be like politicians here and attacking them as if someone is happy to carry covid to canadian borders ‍♂

Someone's happiness or how they feel is very different to someone's life being lost. It is proven that travellers are the main source of cases in Ontario. The quicker this is resolved the more likely students will be able to enjoy in person education. What don't you get?