India flight ban creates costly challenges for international students coming to Canada

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – While post-secondary students in Canada worry about making friends and moving into residence ahead of the fall semester, concerns for students from India are much more dire.

The ongoing flight ban from that country into Canada has students facing a number of hurdles just to get here

The flight restrictions have been in place since April because of COVID-19 concerns. It is set to expire on Sept. 21. But that’s not soon enough for students like Ritesh Goyal, who is supposed to start his second year next week at UBC for economics.

For Goyal, the only option he has had to get to Canada in time was to fly through a third country — which is allowed under the restrictions.

“People are really desperate to come to Canada,” he told NEWS 1130, adding he and many others have wondered why the flight ban had to be extended until well into September.

Under the current flight ban, Canada requires passengers transiting through a third nation to go through customs in that country and remain there until they obtain another negative COVID-19 test. Only then can they board a flight to Canada.

A costly + complicated journey for Indians trying to get to Canada for school during ongoing flight ban. The only option is flying through a 3rd country. With the cost of flights + COVID tests, a UBC student tells me he'll be out ~ $7,000 by the time he gets here @NEWS1130

— Monika Gul (@MonikaGul) August 31, 2021

Travellers are then once again required to quarantine when they arrive here.

While travellers from India are able to fly through a third country, the journey is not cheap. Between COVID-19 PCR test, flights, and more, Goyal estimates he’ll be out about $7,000 by the time he arrives in Canada Tuesday, via Dubai.

“So people are quite desperate — they’re ready to pay this much money and take the risk to go through a third country we don’t know about, we’ve never been there,” he explained. “It’s difficult because it’s expensive. I cannot find that many tickets and it’s scary, too, because you’re putting yourself in danger as well, going to a third country and not knowing what the situation there is.”

Goyal, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, doesn’t understand why Indian students are facing such an uphill battle to get to Canada for school, while fully vaccinated Americans are able to visit, even for non-essential reasons, without issue.

He wonders why exceptions couldn’t be made for people in his situation.

“It feels discriminatory in a way,” Goyal added.

In a statement to NEWS 1130, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada say while there has been a decline in daily case numbers in India, it is “still among the top countries for the absolute number of cases reported and only a small proportion of the population is vaccinated.”

“The level of COVID-19 activity is still high and comparable to the level observed when there was a consistently high number of imported cases into Canada from India, which triggered advice to implement Transport Canada’s Notice To Airmen (NOTAM),” reads an emailed statement. “Travellers coming from India to Canada via an indirect route are required to have a pre-arrival test from a third country.”

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The statement adds as vaccination levels increase in Canada, the risks associated with international travel will in turn decrease.

“This approach allows the Government of Canada to ease border measures in step with decreasing risk,” the agencies add.

It notes the spread of the Delta variant is not the only consideration when border measures are considered.

“In the face of increasing rates of COVID in the U.S., the percent of travellers arriving from the USA that test positive with COVID at the border remains significantly lower than what was observed from India prior to the implementation of the NOTAM in April,” the statement reads, adding the government continues to monitor the situation in India.

India is one of the top source countries for international students coming to Canada.

Quarantine rules are supposed to ease for fully vaccinated international travelers starting Sept. 7, however, it’s unclear if that will be pushed back amid rising COVID-19 infections in Canada.