Address travails of Canada-bound students’

Address travails of Canada-bound students’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: 28.7.2021

With no direct flights and stringent Covid-19 norms imposed by the Canadian government on Indian travellers, the cost of travelling there has gone up almost three-fold for students.

The issue was discussed during a national-level meeting of travel agents held on Tuesday.

Canada has banned all direct flights from India till August 21. During that period, passengers who travel to Canada from India via an indirect route will need to obtain a pre-departure negative Covid-19 test result from a third country before continuing their journey to Canada.

Given these developments, a travel agents’ body, Travel Agents’ Federation of India (TAFI), Gujarat, made a representation to the external affairs ministry.

“We demand that the Canadian government accept and validate Indian RT-PCR reports and allow Indian students, permanent residents, and work-permit and visitor visa holders to enter directly without any transit hassles,” states the representation.

Manish Sharma, chairman, TAFI-Gujarat chapter, said: “Students have to bear an additional cost of at least Rs 2-2.5 lakh to get to Canada because they have to transit through another country.” Sharma went on to say: “Moreover, those travelling via different countries must also comply with all the restrictions and regulations of these countries, which frequently keep changing.” An estimated 15,000 students are set to travel to Canada this year, according to TAFI-Gujarat.

Three-fold rise in travel cost, changing Covid norms and other issues taken up by travel agents at national-level meeting