Student encampment shuts down after nearly 150 days of protest in Brampton

International students protesting deportations and calling for changes to work permit regulations in Canada have shut down their non-stop demonstrations after nearly 150 days.

The protests started in the summer with a march and later saw international workers and students set up an encampment near Highway 410 to protest a “severe backlog” of permanent residency applications and what they’ve called broken promises made by the Canadian government.

That encampment has now been shuttered, according to the Naujawan Support Network, a group dedicated to ending “exploitation” of international students and workers.

And despite the encampment shutting down on Monday, protesters say their “fight is far from over.”

“This is not an end but a transformation. We are shifting gears, adopting new strategies, and preparing to come back stronger, more powerful, and even more united,” a committee of protesters said according to the Naujawan Support Network.

Demonstrators have called on Canada to extend post-graduation work permits for some 70,000 international students facing deportation, a “fair pathway to permanent residency,” and extend all post-graduation work permit (PGWP) holders set to expire in 2024-2025.

Those permits can allow international students to temporarily stay and work in Canada after graduation, and offer learners from other countries work experience that may help them stand out if they seek to emigrate permanently.

But the approvals have been lagging due to a “severe backlog” of permanent residency applications, protesters say.

Leaders from the Ontario Federation of Labour, Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario Peel, United Steelworkers Toronto Area Council, and Ontario’s trucking associations all threw their support behind the protest.

The protesters were also calling for an end to what’s been called “LMIA-based exploitation” of international students.

Canada has made changes and will no longer process LMIA applications if the unemployment rate of the area where the work is located is six per cent or higher at the time the LMIA application is submitted, and if the wage offered for the position is below the provincial or territorial wage threshold.

“Through sustained pressure, the committee won a policy change to LMIAs last month which removes the source of much of that exploitation,” the Naujawan Support Network said.

🧵After 143 days of permanent protest against Canada’s exploitative immigration policies, former international students in the PGWP committee have concluded the encampment in Brampton. They made this difficult decision in response to political developments, including the PM’s… pic.twitter.com/TAYP0rxZzn

— Naujawan Support Network (@NSNPeel) January 20, 2025