Since arriving in Thunder Bay from India in 2022, Mohit Dudeja, a researcher, lecturer, and psychotherapist working on their PhD, has experienced difficulties transitioning to their new life in Canada, including finding affordable housing. However, Dudeja’s struggle is not unique.
According to Dudeja, “lots of students” were homeless in Thunder Bay, especially International students. Moreover, Dudeja said they “encountered fraud” for housing upon arrival to Canada. So, they set out to create Mendlife Canada, a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the unique challenges of 2SLGBTQ+, BIPOC and international students.
“In the fall of 2023, that’s when this housing crisis basically started rising too much, and lots of students were homeless, especially the new international students coming to Thunder Bay to study Lakehead and Confederation College,” said Dudeja.
“That’s when I thought of doing something about it. I thought, for one, is that the university should further address the accommodation for students, which many universities were not taking responsibility for, across the [province.]”
Moreover, Dudeja said Lakehead University’s student accommodations were “very expensive.”
“When I moved to Thunder Bay, and Canada in general, the on-campus accommodation at Lakehead University was very expensive. I have also stayed at other campuses, like the University of Windsor and Brock University, and those were not as expensive as Lakehead’ss accommodations,” said Dudeja.
“So, I can absolutely understand why many International students choose not to live on campus. Because, for one thing, it’s expensive. The other is like, especially people from India, they like to cook their own food, and there’s no kitchen available for them. So, like, there are many such cultural things [unaddressed by student accommodations.] I think if, if the price is lower, or at least at par with the off-campus accommodations, then students will definitely, at least for their first semester, choose on-campus accommodation, but they were not choosing that, and they were not even enough accommodations anyway.”
In addition to a lack of desirable accommodations, Dudeja claimed “there was lots of fraud.”
“Not only was there a housing crisis, so there were no accommodations available, but also there was lots of fraud,” said Dudeja.
“I also encountered fraud when I initially came here, like I posted an ad on Kijiji that I’m looking for an accommodation in Thunder Bay, and some people reached out to me. I can definitely remember that at least five fraud people reached out to me from different numbers. They offered me accommodation, and they also sent me pictures of, like, really amazing looking homes, and they were also very cheap, and they were like, you need to first submit some amount. Like first month rent, and then we’ll be able to show this to you in person and stuff.
“I did not pay, obviously, but I know many students who do pay,” he added.
Dudeja noticed there was no group or organization to help guide International students along the way.
“It’s an assumption, and that’s not true,” said Dudeja. “There is also nobody to inform incoming International students about these things. While, of course, I understand that many people will argue that it’s common sense and all of that. But you know, what people don’t understand is that, when we initially moved here, there are lots of things that we are going through. We are already in a culture shock. Anybody who has not moved out of the country can just not understand what we go through in that phase, and, out of that moment of anxiety, depression and all of these things happen, we pay despite knowing that this can be fraud.”
Of course, this leads to some International students seeking education in Canada losing their money to fraud.
“So, that happens, and then, of course, people lose their money, and I don’t think there is a way to get the money back,” said Dudeja. “This is true for any student, but imagine people who identify as queer and looking for an accommodation. First of all, it is already difficult to find a safe accommodation where they will not be judged. Now, amidst this crisis, it is even more difficult … so I suggested that why don’t we start a non-profit and support students as much as we can? So, the house that I was living in, had a basement which was not really livable. It was mostly like a washer area and, you know, the area for heating systems and heaters and all of that. But there was still enough space that accommodate a bed, a table and a chair. So I thought maybe what I could do, I could make this a transition house so that okay, these students, they don’t feel the pressure of finding an accommodation immediately.”
Thus, Mendlife Canada was born as an extension of the non-profit Dudeja started in India in 2017 called Mendlife Foundation, focusing on helping ease the burden of finding housing for incoming International students.
“Through this nonprofit, we can support all students, but specifically queer BIPOC and International students to make their transition better in Thunder Bay,” said Dudeja. “Any new student who’s coming to Thunder Bay can apply to come and live here for a month or so, and then they can eventually find good accommodations to move out.”
“The people who are using [the transitional house,] I can see how helpful it is for them and how grateful they are,” said Dudeja. “I’m glad that I’m in a position to do it because when I moved here, I had a horrible time finding a house.”
