OSPE - The Voice - Fall 2020 - 38

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and new projects slowed drastically. I didn't
explains to OSPE, "we need to find
The effect of the COVID-19
a job here in Canada to be able to
know what our workload was like or how long
pandemic is unlike anything
we could weather a slow-down. I didn't know
move forward with our immigration
Ontario engineers have faced
if I had a job to go back to or who would watch
process." Relaying a common fear
before. With the province
about the typical student-visa
my son, if I did." In the following weeks, Hosier
struggled to find adequate childcare and the
process, which allows an extension if
taking positive steps towards
balance her life had previously. Fortunately
the student can secure employment
reopening, the prospect of a
for her, a colleague's child's summer work
soon after graduating.
second wave halting progress
fell through and became available for daily
This frightening prospect will
still looms.
have long-term effects on the
childcare.
students who are trained, educated
As students grapple with the changes,
some, like Muhammad Imran Chughtai, are trying to see what
and plugged into the Canadian engineering community, as they
positivity may come from the pandemic fallout. "This pandemic
will be denied the much sought-after opportunity to work here and
has made the world realize how powerful and useful a tool like the
contribute the industry. Canada will lose out on the diverse cache
of minds and talent developed by our own universities. This is the
internet can be. Across the globe, we have seen a surge in the usage
kind
of loss that is difficult to quantify, as a potential "brain drain"
of the internet, whether it is the employees working from home
or professors delivering lectures." While acknowledging, longof our own engineers will have far reaching ramifications for years
term, that universities may find a way to turn these into savings
to come.
for students, Chughtai echoes the sentiments of many students
The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything Ontario
who face uneasy job prospects. "Looking at the measures taken by
engineers have faced before. With the province taking positive
different companies across the world, and many of them filing for
steps towards reopening, the prospect of a second wave halting
bankruptcy, it will certainly be difficult to find a decent job."
progress still looms. At OSPE, we are committed to listening to
This burden is carried particularly by international students
the concerns of our members and providing new opportunities,
like Negin Ziayee Bideh, who have spent years adapting to Canada,
strategies, and solutions wherever we can. Please reach out to us
paying larger international student fees, and now finds that her
via our social channels or email to share your stories, ideas, and
prospects towards Permanent Residency are diminished. As she
concerns.

THE VOICE Fall 2020

OSPE - The Voice - Fall 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OSPE - The Voice - Fall 2020