This international student in Thunder Bay, Ont., paid an unexpected price to study there: his mental health

This is one of two stories in the series Making Their Mark, which explores the experiences of international students living in Thunder Bay, Ont. The series highlights the challenges they face but also how they're building community and making a positive mark on the city. You can read the other story in the series here.

Mohit Dudeja expected cold winters, a heavy school workload and homesickness when he chose to come to Canada from Delhi just over a year ago to study for his PhD.

What he didn't expect was the mental health challenges — the financial pressures and social isolation that many international students experience in Canada.

Dudeja is completing a joint program involving Brock University in St. Catharines, the University of Windsor and Lakehead University, all in Ontario. Currently based in Thunder Bay, his research focuses on the experiences of queer Indian international students like himself in small Canadian cities.

The first issue the 30-year-old faced after arriving in northwestern Ontario was finding housing. Initially, he paid two months of rent for a shared room, but moved out after five days due to the living conditions.

"It was extremely dirty," said Dudeja. "It was worse than a public washroom."

Then, he encountered a number of rental scams — people would send him photos of attractive houses at low prices and ask for money before booking a showing. Thankfully, Dudeja's PhD supervisor warned him about fraud.

"I didn't expect that from a country like Canada," Dudeja said.

Canadian colleges and universities are seeing a record number of international students, with Immigration Minister Marc Miller estimating the country is on track to host around 900,000 international students this year.

But from Dudeja's perspective, these institutions aren't ready for the influx.

"[The housing crisis [is] not just in Thunder Bay — it's across Canada … [and] universities are not prepared."

His suggestions include more on-campus housing, providing international students subsidies for on-campus living and lowering international students' tuition.

There are currently 1,120 beds for students in on-campus residences at Lakehead, and the school has plans to add 40 more next year.

While Dudeja's first semester in summer 2022 was in person at Brock University, his classes at Lakehead that fall were online.