International college students in Sudbury get a crash course in life in Canada

Cambrian College’s Student Life Centre in Greater Sudbury was a busy place on Thursday as the school hosted a community service fair to help international students connect with key service providers in the city and on campus as part of its orientation week events.

Cambrian College’s Student Life Centre in Greater Sudbury was busy on August 29, 2024, as the school hosted a community service fair to help international students connect with key service providers in the city and on campus. (Alana Everson/CTV News Northern Ontario)Cambrian is welcoming more than 700 new international students this semester.

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Laura Aba arrived in Sudbury two weeks ago from Ghana, West Africa.

As an international student, she is enrolled in cybersecurity and she told CTV News that she welcomes the opportunity this fair offers to help get settled in a new city and a country.

“I really need to create a bank account so I am really hoping they can help me with that,” she said.

“I have already been able to get seen today. So, I am just hoping I can get more documentations I need to settle in done by the end of today.”

Laura Aba is an international student enrolled in Cambrian College's cybersecurity program for the fall 2024 term. She arrived in Greater Sudbury, Ont., from Ghana in West Africa, two weeks ago. August 29, 2024. (Alana Everson/CTV News Northern Ontario)

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Vipul Prajapati is volunteering to help international students with orientation and transitioning to a new country, city and college.

He knows the challenges after coming from India as an international student only eight months ago.

“They don’t know anything about the college about this new culture about the country what to do here. So, we are providing help to them,” said Prajapati.

“’You can find this kind of many services to here, you go to here, this is our college, this is the base, don’t worry about it.’ We are helping them like in that way.”

Vipul Prajapati is an international orientation volunteer for Cambrian College this term. He volunteered to help international students transition to their new country, city and college given his experience of doing the same. August 29, 2024. (Alana Everson/CTV News Northern Ontario)

School officials said the college is welcoming 730 new international students this term and the events this week are designed to help them transition and feel welcome. Thursday’s service fair had information on everything from banking to transit and countless other services in the community and on campus.

“That’s why we put all this effort into orientation week activities,” said Cambrian’s communication manager, Dan Lessard.

“We are a community of people from more than 60 countries. We are right here in Sudbury a global community and we really want people to feel part of something.”

Cambrian College spokesperson Dan Lessard said the school puts in a lot of effort towards orientation week activities to show new students that they are now part of a community. (File Photo/Supplied/Cambrian College)

“I am very excited,” said Aba.

“It’s a new experience in a new continent all together and with different people, people with different mentality from where I come from. So, I am really excited to learn, I am really open to experiencing new things.”

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Cambrian College told CTV News that the total enrollment for the fall semester at Cambrian is just over 5,000 student and is very close to being split evenly between domestic and international students.