Singh aims to grow our understanding of the experiences of international students

Antonio Leavey

MacEwan alum Mehak Singh received the University Undergraduate Student Research Initiative (USRI) Grant for his research into the challenges and coping strategies of international students at Macewan. Singh says the study consists of lists of potential stressors that people in the study rate on how much they feel impacted by. Working as a nurse at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in emergency care, Singh considers his research more of a hobby. 

Singh began his international studies while classes were still online due to the COVID pandemic — allowing him to make connections and get used to the new environment before leaving India. Over the last four years, Singh has seen the political climate in Canada change. “People were more welcoming towards immigrants, they were nice,” he says, but now he sees more anti-immigrant sentiment being spread online. Public opinions on immigration have been getting increasingly negative, with a 2024 study finding that 58 per cent of Canadians now believed the country was accepting too many immigrants, as opposed to the previous studies which found this opinion to be in the minority. 

“As an immigrant, who came to Canada as an international student about four and a half years ago” Singh has had firsthand experience navigating the Canadian immigration system. His research aims to better understand the experiences of international students like himself. This research has already provided shocking insights into the experiences of international students, such as the fear for their safety.Singh theorizes that the growing anti-immigrant sentiment and the fear it’s causing could negatively impact the mental health of international students — which could negatively affect their studies. International students also reported feeling isolated from their peers, which can negatively impact their mental health. Singh hopes to take this research to the masters level and to expand beyond MacEwan, to get a better understanding of the experiences of international students in Edmonton. 

MacEwan has support for international students from the many different student run clubs promoting different cultures and the mental health and peer supports that MacEwan and SAMU offer. 

Singh believes more could still be done. He says there is a demand for a Canadian cultural history and heritage course to help students understand the culture around them. He has also seen a demand for more opportunities for students to socialize and meet new people outside of their own cultures, religions and countries.