The impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on motivation to stay: a comparison between Chinese and non-Chinese international students in Nova Scotia, Canada

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted international students due to unexpected changes in policies and regulations regarding their visa status and immigration, travel restrictions, and heightened scrutiny against foreigners. Such changes potentially disrupt and affect international students’ post-graduation migration plan: whether they decide to go back to their home country or stay in Canada and apply for permanent residency. This may particularly be the case for Chinese international students, the 2nd largest group of international students in Canada, due to the rise of anti-Asian racism and the stigmatization that the COVID-19 is a ‘Chinese virus’. Using ‘intellectual migration’ as our analytical framework, we pay particular attention to the experiences of Chinese international students in the province of Nova Scotia, an intellectual periphery in Canada. Drawing upon data from online surveys and focus groups, this study compares the experiences of Chinese and non-Chinese international students during the pandemic and whether these experiences have impacted their post-migration plans and their motivation to stay in Nova Scotia, Canada.