COVID-19 Experiences of International Students in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v15i3.4688Keywords:
COVID-19, pandemic, international students, Vancouver, CanadaAbstract
This study looked into the lived experiences of international students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The research focused on how international students viewed the COVID-19 pandemic, their personal, social, economic, health and hygiene, and schooling experiences. A validated and reliable researchers-made questionnaire was used. Weighted means and Fisher’s Exact Hypothesis Testing on Association were used to analyze the responses of the international students. The researchers used Fisher’s exact test since they wanted to know whether the proportions for one variable were different among values of the other variable. Foreign students had a solid grasp of the potential risks COVID-19 posed and accepted the associated lockdown requirements. The survey results indicated that the students’ nationality played a vital role in their perception of their financial health and well-being. Students were insecure with their accommodation, expenses, and scheduling. Lastly, they also felt alone, and economically challenged.
References
Alam, H. (2020, May 30). International students worry about pandemic as decisions loom on travel to Canada. CTV News. https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/international-students-worry-about-pandemic-as-decisions-loom-on-travel-to-canada-1.4961689
Al-Oraibi, A., Fothergill, L.,Yildirim, M., Knight, H., Carlisle, S, O'Connor, M., Briggs, L., Morling, J.R., Corner, J., Ball, J.K., Denning, C., Vedhara, K., Blake, H. (2022). Exploring the Psychological Impacts of COVID-19 Social Restrictions on International University Students: A Qualitative Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(13), 7631. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137631
Apart. Not alone. (2020, August 3). CAMH. https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-health-and-covid-19
Belle, T. (2020, Mar 27). Studying in Canada during COVID-19: I’ am on board to finish this semester remotely. Study International. https://www.studyinternational.com/news/international-students-in-covid-19-canada/
Bula, F. & Xu, X. (2020, April 3). B.C. international students left out of aid fund. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-bc-international-students-left-out-of-aid-fund/
Canada: Some Int’l Students Eligible for Support. (2020, April 3) . The Pie News. https://thepienews.com/news/some-international-students-eligible-for-support-in-canada/
Canadian Bureau of International Education. (2020). International students in Canada. https://cbie.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/International-Students-in-Canada-ENG.pdf
Canadian Press. (2020, March 25). A look at what’s in the federal COVID-19 aid legislation. CityNews Ottawa. https://ottawa.citynews.ca/national-news/a-look-at-whats-in-the-federal-covid-19-aid-legislation-2199638
Crawford & Johsnon. (2020). COVID-19: Doctors push for lockdown, warn B.C. could become like Italy. Vancouver Sun. https://vancouversun.com/news/covid-19-doctors-urge-b-c-government-to-take-more-drastic-measures/
Dangerfield, K. (2020, July 9). Coronavirus: How a lack of socialization could impact a generation of kids. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/7156863/coronavirus-children-isolation-socialization/
Diamantopoulos, A., Reynolds, N., & Schlegelmilch, B. (1994). Pretesting in questionnaire design: The impact of respondent characteristics on error detection. Journal of the Market Research Society, 36(4), 295–313. https://doi.org/10.1177/147078539403600402
Dumford, A., & Miller, A. (2018). Online learning in higher education: exploring advantages and disadvantages for engagement. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 30, 452–465. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-018-9179-z
Ebrahim, N. (2020, March 20). How Canadian universities and colleges are responding to Coronavirus. Refinery29. https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/2020/03/9548653/canadian-university-college-closures-
coronavirus
El-Assal, K. & Thevenot, S. (2020, April 8). International students now eligible for PGWP with online courses. CIC News. https://www.cicnews.com/2020/04/international-students-now-eligible-for-pgwp-with-online-courses-0414082.html#gs.rraksr
Farnell, T., Skledar Matijevic, A., & Scukanec Schmidt, N. (2021, March 17). The Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education: A review of Emerging Evidence. Analytical Report. European Commission. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/876ce591-87a0-11eb-ac4c-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
Ghebreyesus, T., & Urpilainen, J. (n.d.). Opinion: The COVID-19 pandemic is the defining health crisis of our time. Deutsche Welle. https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-the-covid-19-pandemic-is-the-defining-health-crisis-ofour-time/a-53452278
Gomez, C., Kalata, N., Singh, I., & Loiero, J. (2020, March 24). International students feeling isolated and financially strapped as they wait out pandemic. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/covid-international-students-universities-pandemic1.5505222
Government of Canada. (2020a, March 25). Government introduces Canada Emergency Response Benefit to help workers and businesses. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2020/03/introduces-canada-emergency-response-benefit-to-help-workers-and-businesses.html
Government of Canada. (2020b, April 22). Removing barriers for international students working in essential services to fight COVID-19. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2020/04/removing-barriers-for-international-students-working-in-essential-services-to-fight-covid-19.html
Government of Canada. (2020c, July 14). Measures to support international students during COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2020/07/measures-to-support-international-students-during-the-covid-19-pandemic.html
Economic Impact. (n.d.). Vancouver Economic Commission. https://vancouvereconomic.com/economic-impact/
Holliday, I. (2020, April 16). B.C. announces 3 more COVID-19 deaths, 14 new cases. CTV News. https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/b-c-announces-3-more-covid-19-deaths14-new-cases-1.4899158
Iwai, Y. (2020, March 13). Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Scientific American. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/online-learning-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Kahn, P., Everington, L., Kelm, K., Reid, I., & Watkins, F. (2017). Understanding student engagement in online learning environments: the role of reflexivity. Educational Technology Research and Development, 65, 203–2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-016-9484-z
MacLeod, M. (2020, June 15). Is the great shift to working from home here to stay? CTV News. https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/is-the-great-shift-to-working-fromhome-here-to-stay-1.4981456
McDonald, J. H. (2014). Biological statistics Third Edition. Retrieved from http://www.biostathandbook.com/HandbookBioStatThird.pdf
Mangione, K. (2020a, March 17). All B.C. public schools will be closed for now over COVID-19 concerns. CTV News. https://bc.ctvnews.ca/all-b-c-public-schools-will-be-closed-for-now-over-covid-19-concerns-1.4856680
Mangione, K. (2020b, June 17). These groups were the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, B.C.’s finance minister says. CTV News. https://bc.ctvnews.ca/these-groups-were-the-hardest-hit-by-the-coronavirus-pandemic-bc-s-finance-minister-says-1.4988852
Maragakis, L. (2020, July 5). Coronavirus, social and physical distancing and self-quarantine. John Hopkins Medicine. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-social-distancing-and-self-quarantine
McQuigge, M. (2020, March 11). Universities prepare for possibility of moving online as coronavirus pandemic spreads. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-universities-prepare-for-possibility-ofmoving-online-as-coronavirus/
Mineo, L. (2020, March 5). How to reduce the spread of coronavirus: Much of it follows traditional cold-season admonitions, but some is more specific. Harvard Gazette. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/03/preventing-the-spread-of-coronavirus-starts-with-basic-hygiene/
MIT Medical. (n.d.). Four ways to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. https://medical.mit.edu/four-ways-to-protect
Rethinking social change in the face of coronavirus. (n.d.). Stanford Social Innovation Review. https://ssir.org/rethinking_social_change_in_the_face_of_coronavirus
Snowball Sampling. (2010, September 10). Oregon State University. https://research.oregonstate.edu/irb/policies-and-guidance-investigators/guidance/snowball-sampling
Student life in Canada. (2021, September 29). Leverage Edu. https://leverageedu.com/blog/student-life-in-canada/
Shaw, R. (2020, March 25). COVID-19: Job losses mount in B.C. as coronavirus pandemic wreaks economic havoc. Vancouver Sun. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/covid-19-job-losses-mount-in-b-c-as-coronavirus-pandemic-wreaks-economic-havoc
St. Denis, J. (2020, June 26). Protesters march against COVID-19 prevention measures in Vancouver. CTV News. https://bc.ctvnews.ca/protesters-march-against-covid-19prevention-measures-in-vancouver-1.4912767
Steacy, L. (2020, March 15). COVID-19-related changes, cancellations at Lower Mainland post-secondary schools. City News Everywhere. https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/03/15/covid-19-changes-post-secondary/
Teboe, C. (2020, April 14). How to improve your social life while COVID-19 social distancing. Maine News Center. https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/as-seen-on-tv/video-call-etiquette-during-coronavirus-pandemic-social-distancing/97-8d861b37-749a-477e-bd11-c0bb893f2dae
The Canadian Press. (2020a, May 12). Some Canadian universities say fall classes will be offered primarily online. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/covid-universities-online-1.5565810#:~:text=CBC%20News%20Loaded-,Some%20Canadian%20universities%20say%20fall%20classes%20will%20be%20offered%20primarily,the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic%20continues.
The Canadian Press. (2020b, July 24). Online shopping has doubled during the pandemic, Statistics Canada says social sharing. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/onlineshopping-covid-19-1.5661818
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020a, July 30). COVID-19 recommendations for older adults. https://www.cdc.gov/aging/covid19-guidance.html
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020b, July 15). Social distancing keep a safe distance to slow the spread. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Social Inclusion. (n.d.). Everyone included: Social Impact of Covid-19. United Nations. https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/everyone-included-covid-19.html
Economic Impact. (n.d.). Vancouver Economic Commission. https://vancouvereconomic.com/economic-impact/
Vega, D. (2020, March 26). Student life. Indiana University School of Medicine. https://medicine.iu.edu/blogs/student-life/i-am-not-invincible-my-covid-19-story
Zhao, T. (2020, March 27). International perspective: a Chinese student in Canada during the coronavirus outbreak. The Student: Part Times Higher Education. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/blogs/international-perspective-chinese-student-canada-during-coronavirus-outbreak
Zussman, R. (2020, March 18). B.C. declares state of emergency in response to coronavirus pandemic. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/6697149/public-safety-minister-update-coronavirus/
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The findings, interpretations, conclusions, and views expressed in Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education (JCIHE) are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to CIES, HESIG, or the sponsoring universities of the Editorial Staff. These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. Readers are free to copy, display, and distribute articles that appear in JCIHE as long as the work is attributed to the author(s) and JCIHE, it is distributed for non-commercial purposes only, and no alteration or transformation is made in the work. All other uses must be approved by the author(s) or JCIHE. By submitting a manuscript, authors agree to transfer without charge the following rights to JCIHE upon acceptance of the manuscript: first worldwide serial publication rights and the right for JCIHE to grant permissions as its editors judge appropriate for the redistribution of the article, its abstract, and metadata associated with the article in professional indexing and reference services.