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Aayush Pokharel will soon be graduating from his diploma programme in Canada, and so his search for a full-time job has already started. He’ll have three years to work in the country before leaving or applying for permanent residency. For now he says he wants to come back to Nepal.

Aayush was one of more than 20,000 young Nepalis officially studying in Canada in 2023, according to one report. That’s almost triple the 7,680 students in 2022, making Canada one of the most popular destinations for Nepali students. That is changing fast though: word had already got out about Canada’s increasingly expensive housing and scarcity of jobs for students. Then late last year the government announced that it was more than doubling the financial requirement for international students. It has also cut the number of work permits that will be available to graduating students. And this week it announced it is limiting the number of hours that international students can work per week, off campus.

Aayush says he won’t be affected by any of the announced changes. He tells me that he went to Canada, really, to kickstart his career, and thinks he is still on track to do that. Studies are the easy part, he says, making ends meet otherwise is tough. It means, for example, trying to resist the temptations that would leave him financially bound to Canada, like having to make regular payments on a car loan, or a mortgage. After all, Aayush did promise his father that he’d return to Nepal after five years.

A couple of notes before we start. First, if you’re a student thinking of going to Canada please confirm any information that you hear in this conversation – it is opinion only, not verified fact. Second, you might have noticed that most of the interviews in this new season of the show were done in person, which is reflected in the great sound quality. This one was not — we recorded online – so it doesn’t quite match that level, but I don’t think you’ll have any problems hearing us. Let me know if you do.

Please listen now to my conversation with Aayush Pokharel. 

Resources

Rising Nepal article on Nepali students in Canada

Government of Canada press release describing some recent changes

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Music by audionautix.com.

Thank you to Himal Media in Patan Dhoka for the use of their studio.