Carleton’s Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) in collaboration with the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) held an international student town hall in Fenn Lounge on Oct. 9.
The presentation featured representatives from the GSA, RRRA, the Canadian Federation of Students, the International Student Services Office (ISSO), the International Student Centre, and Behzad Rezai, an immigration law consultant.
GSA president Grant MacNeil said the town hall was an opportunity to reach out to a marginalized group that is often underrepresented on campus, despite paying often significantly higher tuition.
“An international student can pay up to three times as much as a domestic student,” he said.
He said they arranged to have Rezai, from A+ Canadian Immigration Law Consulting Firm, speak at the event because of the changes made to Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) in the summer of 2013.
GSA executive co-ordinator Phil Robinson provided an email from university communications stating “education agents, recruiters and employees at educational institutions, who are paid to provide services to their clients, are prohibited from providing advice to students and faculty with regard to immigration applications, such as visas or student and work permits, unless certified.”
MacNeil said the town hall was one way they could continue to provide international students with immigration advice.
“The service is not really offered by the university because of legislation, and so this is a perfect example of the value of a student union . . . we’re providing a service to a lot of students who might not be able access it on their own,” MacNeil said.
Rezai created a binder with helpful information on immigration law, which he left with the ISSO.
He also provided general information to the students and answered their questions.
Kathy Jiang, a systems and computer engineering international student, said she found the event and Rezai’s information helpful.
“We already have the study permit, but we want to know how to get the permanent residency,” she said.
