The huge rise in international students in Canada — most of them from Punjab, India — has become one of the biggest stories in the country.

As Elon Musk rails against content moderation in a disastrous interview with Don Lemon, Jesse and Ivor Shapiro reconsider Canada’s new approach to online speech. 

The rise of gig work and temp agencies have made employment more precarious than ever

From cash cows to scapegoats, has there been a change in how we talk about international students?

We’re busy preparing for our upcoming live events and working away on an exciting fall season, so we’re bringing you an episode from our friends Allison Smith and Jonathan Goldsbie on Wag the Doug  – a monthly podcast that grapples with the realities of the Ford government in Ontario. 

Shefali Mann came to Canada as an international student in 2019. She was hoping to follow the path to permanent residency, but then the pandemic happened. She has been navigating a confusing, shifting set of programs and rules ever since, while the federal government bets on international students to help ease some of Canada's labour shortages.

Last year there were 540,000 international students in Canada according to Immigrations Refugees and Citizenship Canada, IRCC. Many of these students came to Canada with one goal - permanent residency. 

Are our Universities exploiting thousands of kids?