How This Student Converted a Tourist Dream Into a Study Abroad Success Story
Prabhjot grew up watching travel vlogs and dreaming of living abroad. Here's how a casual interest in Canada turned into a planned immigration pathway — with advice for anyone at the 'just dreaming' stage.
Prabhjot from Ludhiana — from YouTube tabs to an Algonquin acceptance
Prabhjot Aulakh will tell you the exact YouTube channel that started his Canada obsession: a travel vlogger from Toronto who posted a series about weekend trips in Ontario. He was seventeen. He had never left Punjab. For three years the idea of Canada stayed exactly where most ideas stay — in browser bookmarks and late-night "what if" conversations.
At 20, in his second year of a BCom degree in Ludhiana, something shifted. He stopped watching Canada travel vlogs and started watching immigration guidance videos. The shift from passive dreaming to active research took six months. The shift from active research to a submitted visa application took two years. Here is the roadmap he followed.
Phase 1: Research Without Pressure (Month 1–6)
Prabhjot's first step was building awareness without commitment. He made a folder called "Canada Information" and filed everything — program listings, cost breakdowns, IELTS requirements, visa types. He asked questions in Facebook and Reddit groups without shame. He identified three people from Ludhiana who had gone to Canada in the last three years and met them for chai over two weekends. Real stories from real people are worth more than any agent brochure.
Phase 2: Building Eligibility (Month 6–18)
- Maintained strong final-year marks — knew that transcripts matter and stopped treating his degree as a formality
- Started IELTS preparation 9 months before his target date — scored 7.5 on first attempt
- Saved aggressively: ₹4,000/month from part-time tutoring
- Researched DLI-listed colleges in Ottawa specifically (had identified Ottawa as affordable vs Toronto and with government sector internship opportunities)
- Chose Algonquin College's Business Intelligence program — specific, high-demand, PGWP-eligible
The most important thing I did was stop treating Canada as a dream and start treating it as a project with a timeline and a checklist. Dreams wait. Projects get done.
— Prabhjot Aulakh, Ludhiana to Ottawa
Phase 3: Application and Landing (Month 18–27)
Prabhjot applied to Algonquin College directly, received his Letter of Acceptance in 10 days, submitted his Canadian study permit application, and was approved in 31 days. He landed in Ottawa on a Sunday in January. He said the first thing he did after checking into his residence was walk to the Rideau Canal, which was frozen. He stood there in the cold for ten minutes, thinking about the seventeen-year-old watching Toronto vlogs.
He FaceTimed his parents from the canal. His mother asked why he was standing outside in the cold. He tried to explain. He couldn't. He just smiled.