“It’s not just about you”: International students’ vulnerabilities and capacities during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada

by Ayisha Khalid, Jessica Naidu, Tanvir C. Turin

In Canada, the COVID-19 pandemic was initially characterized by emergency government responses that disrupted daily life, especially for marginalized groups. This study explored the vulnerabilities and capacities of international students studying at a university in Calgary, Canada during the first phase of the pandemic. Guided by the Capacities and Vulnerabilities Analysis framework, we thematically analyzed 11 semi-structured interviews with international students. We found that material vulnerabilities included balancing finances, housing conditions, lack of information, food inaccessibility, reliance on public transport, and poor mental health, social vulnerabilities included lack of social support, culture shock, and racism, and attitudinal vulnerabilities included “nowhere to go”, feeling like a burden, and perception of Canada as safe. Material capacities included financial support, knowledge about pandemic, and mental health supports, social capacities included local social support and multilingualism, and attitudinal capacities included resilience, religious and spiritual beliefs, “it’s not just about you”, and reflexivity. We found overlapping and complex relationships between vulnerabilities and capacities, indicating that while international students’ vulnerabilities were exacerbated and introduced challenges during the pandemic, students uniquely leveraged their capacities to offset and recover from challenges. Findings from this study may be informative for stakeholders involved in disaster responses, especially universities and governments, to support international students’ capacities and address their vulnerabilities.