In the recent years, Canada has been a top destination for international students seeking a better education. According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, there were 1,040,985 international students in Canada by the end of 2023.
However, there has been a notable rise in the amount of hateful comments directed towards South Asian international students on social media. Many claim that these students are contributing to inflation, increased housing costs and unemployment. Additionally, many hurtful comments have been made towards these students by countless people on social media platforms.
TC chatted with 23-year-old Hariharan Subramanian to ask him about his personal experiences as an international student. Subramanian arrived to Canada in 2023 from Tamil Nadu, and studied Digital and Content Marketing at York University.
“As an international student, the most difficult part for me is to stop being insecure. It’s hard to feel like you are one of the people here,” he said.
Subramanian is passionate about creating digital content on social media. However, he expressed his hesitation to create content in English due to hateful comments he and his friends have faced in the past.
Despite the negative comments, he acknowledges that the haters are not representative of all Canadians, and that there are many people that wish to help students like himself. He alluded to an incident that he witnessed where an international student forgot her presto card on the bus, and many individuals made an effort to assist her.
“This felt heartwarming to me, and I see lots of incidents like this as well.”
The established community of Tamil international students have helped Tamil students like Subramanian overcome feelings of loneliness and isolation. There are many community groups on Instagram that work to connect Tamil international students such as @tdc_sangam (Tamil Dream to Canada Sangam), @tamil_aspirants_to_canada, and @atcc.ca (Association of Tamilnadu Canadian Community).
However, the aspiring digital content marketer is actively taking steps to make connections with people that reflect diverse backgrounds too. He recommends overcoming the feelings of insecurity by stepping out of your comfort zone and attending seminars/ networking events.
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