Admission Woe for Canadian Colleges Continues

Over the last two years, international students, especially from India, China, Vietnam and the Philippines, have been facing difficulty in securing admissions at the community colleges in Canada. This discomfort can be attributed to rapidly growing numbers of international student from these countries against the limited capacity of the schools. Seats fill up quickly; in some cases, when community colleges decide to open the admission gate for specific courses, they fill up in moments. That was not the case some years ago.

Seeing this, one could start scratching his head and ask himself, “Where does this overnight demand come from?”

There could be multiple answers to such questions. Here is my perspective to this continuing dearth of seats for students:

Under the Student Partner Program (SPP) which was introduced by the Canadian Immigration Department almost a decade back, the numbers of Indian and Chinese students were going up every year. The scarcity of the place at the community colleges was firstly experienced in the year 2013. Some schools filled up in the blink of the eyes. However, not all the colleges were beneficiary of this boom but that was the cursor to the deteriorating situation. In the following year, international students started experiencing the same. This did not end there. The government of Canada decided to add other countries, such as Philippines and Vietnam not far long ago and replaced the SPP program with the Student Direct Stream (SDS). I believe this was the tipping point, and it looks like the situation is not going to get better in the years to come.

Ergo, we advise students to be early and fast in having their applications processed. There is a never-ending queue and if they are late in applying for the school, probably they will miss the bus.

CELPIP test arrives in India

Paragon Testing Enterprises which is a subsidiary of University of British Columbia has finally decided to open a testing center in India by the end of Summer 2018. The first test center will be opened in the capital, New Delhi.

The CELPIP test center stands for Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP). The CELPIP is a 100% Canadian English test designed for permanent residence status. There are two designated tests accepted as evidence of English language proficiency by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for immigration purpose – one is CELPIP and the other is IELTS General module.

The CELPIP test is developed by Paragon Testing Enterprises, a subsidiary of University of British Columbia. It is the first-ever Canadian English test which is designated by IRCC and mirrors the best in Canadian research. The test is designed to give prominence to Canadian English and accents as used in Canada.

The best part of CELPIP is it measures your functional language proficiency which is more relevant for day-to-day life. It focuses on test taker’s English abilities in a variety of different situations and contexts, such as how you communicate with your colleagues and others at workplace, interact with your friends, comprehend and respond to the written materials and understand news items. It is a complete measurement of your English abilities which include four modules of your language skills: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

The CELPIP comes in two versions: the CELPIP – General test and the CELPIP – General LS test. Those who intend to immigrate to Canada can take the CELPIP General test to fulfill the requirement of English language proficiency for IRCC.

Ontario makes history!

Has anyone ever thought that the province of Ontario would accept applications with less than 400 CRS points? I guess none. But, that is what happened on 26 March 2018. First time ever, the province of Ontario sent ‘targeted notification of interest’ to candidates, who were waiting in the pool and met the Human Capital Priorities (HCP) stream criteria with either a job letter or French language skills at CLB7 or above.

Two rounds of invitation were announced and Express Entry candidates with CRS points as low as 351 were issued invitations.

This again proves that the province of Ontaria has an insatiable demand for candidates with certain skills. Hence, keep trying and have patience. You never know something good can happen to you. Everyone has a different clock and wait for it!