In the Echo Essentials Podcast clip above, Uphar, an international student from Punjab, India, describes the exploitation some students face when financial issues force them to work under the table for unscrupulous Canadians of East Indian descent.
Co-hosts Scott Clark and Dave Dale invited Uphar into the studio as he celebrated his first year in North Bay to talk about his experience so far. Uphar is in his second year as a Nipissing University marketing student while working part-time at Clark Communications, which owns the North Bay Echo Community Podcast Network.
Uphar stresses many members of the East Indian community in Canada are acting in good faith to help students. He encourages the audience to see the situation from a teenage international student's perspective: "You go to an entirely new country. You don't know the rules and regulations of culture that well. You speak the language but not proficiently. And then you go to someone in your own community and you end up getting exploited by them."
Find the full-length episode of the podcast featuring Uphar and other podcast offerings at North Bay Echo. Recorded in the North Bay Echo Community Podcast studio, the three discuss the intense pressure international students are under to achieve not only their educational pursuits but also qualify for work permits that they hope will lead to permanent residency. Uphar says they have to navigate through many challenges, including harsh economic realities and evolving rules set by the federal government. That is why recent protests erupted, he says, as tens of thousands face deportations because certain work experiences no longer count toward their scorecard.
The Echo Essentials Podcast ties together all of the elements of the North Bay Echo Community Podcast Network and is hosted by Essentials newsletter editor Dale and Echo’s principal partner Clark. North Bay Echo is a network of podcasts focusing on our community. Guests on the weekly Echo Essentials Podcast reflect on the challenges and issues facing North Bay while Clark and Dale discuss the topics and podcasts featured in the newsletters.
