The latest Lexbase newsletter from Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland include surprising data about India.

It cites reports from Canada's immigration program managers of "an explosion in student intake numbers" from this country over the past two years.

There are "two significant market drivers", according to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada document. 

The first is a "burgeoning postsecondary Indian school population", which cannot be filled by the domestic supply of university and college seats.

Plus, there is "a potential pathway to citizenship afforded to student status holders in Canada".

"Although the lure of temporary work abroad and potential permanent status in Canada accounts for much of the growth in the student movement it has not necessarily best served the objective of attracting applicants principally motivated by academic achievement," the document states.

The greatest growth has come in the Student Partners Program. The government is placing a priority on encouraging Canadian schools that recruit students from India to focus on those "with a  greater potential to become successful permanent residents in the longer term".

The same document cites a warning from one immigration program manager of horrific air quality in India's capital city, which is causing concern for Canadian staff.

"As of February 2017 New Delhi has been re-classified as a Hardship Level V post," the unnamed official wrote. "As the world's most polluted city with increasingly frequent international media attention on long term risks to health from chronic exposure to PM2.5 micro particulate matter, as well as sexual assault/rape of expats, existing and prospective CBS [Canadian-based staff] and dependents are wary of the health and safety risks."

In 2015, the World Health Organization ranked Delhi as having the worst air quality of any city in the world.

It had 153 micrograms of tiny particulates per cubic metre, which was slightly higher than the Indian city of Patna, which had 149.