World Sikh Organization Canada Demands Extensions For Expiring Visas, More PR Pathways

The World Sikh Organization (WSO), Canada’s largest Sikh advocacy organization, has released an election guide which contains an exhaustive list of “key policy priorities” that extend across a variety of public policy spheres – everything from more accommodations for Sikh articles of faith on worksites to formal recognition of what the WSO describes as “the 1984 Sikh genocide” in India.

Of particular relevance for Canadians of all backgrounds is the WSO’s advocacy for a dramatic expansion of the privileges afforded to international students, including those with expiring post-graduate work permits (PGWPs) who are destined to soon leave the country. Here are some of the policy reforms the WSO is pursuing:

• “Extend PGWP Validity immediately: Enact reforms to allow PGWP holders to extend their permits for 2 to 5 years, providing stability for these workers in high-demand fields and addressing labour shortages. Current uncertainty is affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals.”
• “More PR pathways dedicated for international student graduates and prioritizing the pool of applications already in Canada.”
• “Combat Stigmatization and Harassment: Actively work to counter the growing discrimination and xenophobia targeting international students, fostering a safe and welcoming environment in Canada.”
• “Federal programs to provide resources and services for international students and PGWP holders as this population brought in 22B+ $ each year but the amount going back for resources and services is bare minimal.”

PGWPs are open work permits that allow international students to work in Canada for up to three years after graduation. This program is often seen by foreign students as a pathway to permanent residency, because it allows them to rack up work experience and time lived in the country. The urgent advocacy for extensions to these visas can be explained by the fact that more than 200,000 PGWPs are set to expire by the end of this year.

The call for “more PR pathways” is also related to the wave of expiring international student visas that resulted from the Trudeau government vastly expanding temporary immigration streams, before abruptly slamming down stricter caps on numbers (caps which are still nowhere near low enough, as I have written previously).

Beyond the nature of the World Sikh Organization’s policy priorities is the more central issue of an immigrant diaspora group releasing an election guide that is essentially a laundry list of demands geared towards benefiting one specific ethnocultural group. Is this the kind of democracy that Canadians want?