Transnational Ties Among International Students in Canada During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Social Work Practice

1.0 Introduction:

As international student mobility has become one of the most significant dimensions of globalization, Canada has emerged as one of the world's leading destinations for international students due to its high-quality educational institutions, multicultural environment, and pathways to permanent residency. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada hosted more than 800,000 international students, making the country one of the largest recipients of international education globally (Global Affairs Canada, 2019; CBIE, 2025).

International students who choose to study in Canada contribute substantially to Canada's economy. Beyond tuition revenues and supporting local economies, international students enrich campus diversity and strengthen global connections between Canada and countries around the world (Global Affairs Canada, 2019; CBIE, 2025). However, the experiences of international students are often shaped by challenges associated with migration, adaptation, and settlement. These challenges became significantly more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020 triggered unprecedented disruptions in higher education worldwide. In Canada, the government implemented travel restrictions, border closures, lockdown measures, and social distancing policies aimed at reducing the spread of the virus (Firang, 2020; Firang & Mensah, 2022). While these interventions were necessary from a public health perspective, they created significant challenges for international students. Many students experienced social isolation, mental health challenges, uncertainty regarding immigration status, employment disruptions, financial difficulties, and concerns about family members residing abroad (Firang, 2020).

One important but understudied dimension of international students' experiences during the pandemic is their transnational ties. Transnational ties refer to the social, economic, cultural, emotional, and political connections that migrants maintain across national borders (Basch et. al, 1994). These ties enable migrants, including international students, to remain connected to families, friends, communities, and institutions in their countries of origin while simultaneously participating in social life within host countries.

According to a recent Canadian research, transnational ties often serve as important sources of emotional support, financial assistance, cultural identity, and social belonging for international students (Hari et al., 2023; Judge & Walton-Roberts, 2024). During periods of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, these connections may become even more important as individuals seek reassurance, guidance, and support from trusted networks. At the same time, maintaining transnational ties can also create additional responsibilities and stressors, particularly when family members abroad are experiencing health, economic, or social difficulties.

Despite growing interest in international student experiences during COVID-19, relatively little research has examined how students maintained transnational relationships during the pandemic. Understanding these dynamics is important for developing effective support services and informing social work interventions aimed at promoting international students’ well-being.

This study addresses this gap by examining transnational ties among international students enrolled in universities and colleges in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, the study aims at exploring the lived experiences of international students during the COVID-19 pandemic, the frequency and nature of transnational engagement, and implications for social work practice and higher education policy.

1.2 Research Questions

To achieve its objective, the study was guided by the following research questions:

• What are the lived experiences of international students during the COVID-19 pandemic?
• How do international students make meaning of their transnational ties, and how did these ties shape their resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic?
• What implications do these lived experiences have for social work practice and policy in supporting international students during future public health crises

2.0 Literature Review: A Synthesis of Theoretical Frameworks

This study is informed by an integrated theoretical framework of transnationalism, social capital, and resilience to understand the experiences of international students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although these concepts have been separately examined within social science research, they are closely interconnected. While transnationalism provides the broader context for understanding how international students maintain relationships that span across national borders; social capital explains the emotional, cultural and social resources embedded within these cross-border relationships; and whereas resilience explains how these social resources are mobilized to help international students adapt to adversity. Together, these theoretical perspectives provide a comprehensive framework for understanding how international students survived the pandemic.

2.1 Transnationalism: International Students and Transnational Ties

The concept of transnationalism emerged within migration scholarship during the early 1990s as researchers sought to understand how migrants maintained simultaneous connections with both their countries of origin and destination. Basch et al. (1994) define transnationalism as the processes through which migrants sustain social fields that link together their societies of origin and settlement. This perspective challenged earlier migration theories grounded in methodological nationalism (Wimmer & Glick Schiller, 2002, 2003), which assumed that migrants gradually severed ties with their countries of origin as they integrated into host societies. Instead, transnational scholars argue that migrants routinely maintain cross-border relationships through communication, economic exchanges, travel, and cultural practices (Levitt & Glick Schiller, 2004).

International students represent an important transmigrant population because their migration is generally temporary, circular, and highly relational (Hari et al., 2023; Judge & Walton-Roberts, 2024). Unlike many permanent migrants, international students rarely experience a complete break from their home countries. Rather, they remain embedded in transnational social fields through regular interactions with parents, siblings, relatives, friends, and communities in their countries of origin (Liu-Farrer, 2022). These ongoing relationships continue to shape their educational experiences, cultural identities, and well-being. Consequently, understanding international students’ experiences during the pandemic requires viewing them not simply as students studying abroad but as individuals whose everyday lives are simultaneously situated in what Firang (2022) refers to as not only here but also there.

2.2 Social Capital: Resources Embedded in Transnational Relationships

Although transnationalism explains the social context within which international students maintain cross-border relationships, it does not fully explain why these relationships matter. Social capital theory provides this extra explanatory lens by focusing on the social resources that international students can draw from their social networks.

Bourdieu (1986) conceptualizes social capital as the social resources embedded within social relationships that individuals can access to achieve desired outcomes. Similarly, Putnam (2000) emphasizes that social networks generate trust, reciprocity, and cooperation that facilitate both individual and collective well-being. Applied to international students, social capital consists of the emotional encouragement, social networks, practical advice, cultural affirmation, and informational resources that flow through relationships with family members, friends, and communities (Hari et al., 2023; Judge & Walton-Roberts, 2024).

Previous research demonstrates that migrant networks play an important role in facilitating adaptation during periods of transition and uncertainty (Ryan, 2011; Zhang et.al., 2023). Family members often provide reassurance, guidance, and practical support that assist migrants in navigating unfamiliar educational, social, and cultural environments (Zhang et.al., 2023). For international students, these relationships frequently extend beyond occasional communication to become important sources of stability, belonging, and identity. Thus, transnational ties function not merely as social relationships but also as valuable forms of social capital that students can draw upon during periods of stress and uncertainty (Ryan, 2011; Zhang et.al., 2023).

2.3 Resilience as a Relational Process

The concept of resilience provides the third component of this integrated framework by explaining how international students utilize available resources to adapt to adversity. While earlier resilience research often portrayed resilience as an individual personality trait or inherent capacity to overcome hardship (Adger 2000; Luthar 2003) a more recent scholarship conceptualizes resilience as a dynamic, relational, and socially embedded process that develops through interactions between individuals and their social, cultural, and institutional environments. Ungar (2012) and Akbar & Preston (2019), for instance, argues that resilience depends not only on personal characteristics but also on individuals' ability to access supportive relationships and meaningful social resources. Resilience is fostered through family processes that provide emotional security, hope, shared meaning, effective communication, and mutual support during periods of crisis. These perspectives shift attention away from resilience as an individual attribute toward resilience as a socially produced process grounded in relationships.

Viewed through this lens, transnational family relationships can be understood as important resilience resources for international students. Emotional reassurance from parents, practical advice from relatives, and continued cultural affirmation from home communities may all strengthen students' capacity to cope with isolation, uncertainty, and stress. This perspective also suggests that resilience is co-constructed through supportive relationships (Akbar & Preston, 2019) that often extend beyond national borders.

2.4 Digital Transnationalism: Sustaining Resilience Across Distance

Advances in communication technologies have fundamentally transformed the ways migrants sustain transnational relationships. Increasing use of WhatsApp, Zoom, FaceTime, WeChat, and other digital platforms enables migrants to maintain frequent contact with family members regardless of geographical distance. Madianou and Miller (2013) argue that these technologies have created new forms of digital transnationalism that enables migrants to sustain emotional intimacy and family relationships across borders. Licoppe's (2004) concept of connected presence further illustrates how frequent digital communication creates an ongoing sense of emotional closeness despite physical separation. Rather than replacing face-to-face relationships, digital communication allows migrants to participate continuously in the everyday lives of family members. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when international travel was severely restricted, these technologies assumed even greater significance by enabling international students to maintain emotional connections with their families despite prolonged physical separation. Consequently, digital communication became an important mechanism through which transnational social capital was maintained and resilience was strengthened.

2.5 International Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for international students worldwide. Studies consistently report heightened levels of anxiety, depression, loneliness, homesickness, financial insecurity, and uncertainty among international students during the pandemic (Firang, 2020; Olatunji et al., 2023). Travel restrictions prevented many students from returning home, while border closures intensified concerns about the health and safety of family members living abroad. At the same time, employment disruptions reduced income and increased financial insecurity for many students, particularly those whose families also experienced economic hardship in their countries of origin (Hari et al., 2023; Judge & Walton-Roberts, 2024). The rapid transition to online learning further reduced opportunities for social interaction and limited access to campus support services.

Synthesizing the Literature: Identifying the Research Gap

The literature reviewed above suggests that transnationalism, social capital, and resilience are not separate theoretical concepts but complementary perspectives that together explain how international students experience and respond to adversity. Transnationalism explains the broader social context within which students maintain meaningful relationships across national borders. Social capital explains the emotional, informational, cultural, and social resources embedded within these relationships. Resilience explains the dynamic process through which students mobilize these resources to adapt to the challenges associated with migration and crisis. Viewed together, these perspectives suggest that resilience among international students is not simply an individual characteristic but a socially and transnationally embedded process that is constructed through ongoing interactions with family members, friends, communities, and institutions across multiple national contexts.

Gaps- Despite these important theoretical insights, significant gaps remain in the existing literature. Although the growing body of literature has documented the psychological, financial, and academic challenges experienced by international students during the pandemic, considerably less attention has been devoted to understanding how students actively mobilized their transnational relationships to cope with these challenges. Existing studies have largely emphasized vulnerability while paying comparatively little attention to resilience and the ways students drew upon family relationships, digital communication, and transnational social networks as sources of emotional support.

Also, far less attention has been given to understanding how international students themselves interpreted these experiences and how they made meaning of the transnational relationships that sustained them during the pandemic. There remains limited qualitative research examining how transnational family relationships, supported through digital communication and complemented by institutional resources, contributed to students' resilience during a global public health crisis. The present study fills this by addressing two research questions: (1) What are the lived experiences of international students during the COVID-19 pandemic? and (2) How do international students make meaning of their transnational ties, and how did these ties shape their resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Methodology

This study forms part of a larger mixed-method research project that examined the experiences of international students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The larger project employed a sequential mixed-methods design that integrated quantitative and qualitative approaches to provide a comprehensive understanding of international students' experiences during the pandemic. This article reports findings from the qualitative phase of the study, which adopted an interpretive research approach to explore how international students understood and interpret their experiences during the pandemic, with particular attention to the role of transnational ties in shaping resilience. An interpretive approach was particularly appropriate because it seeks to understand the meanings individuals assign to their lived experiences and social realities (Creswell & Poth, 2018). Guided by this perspective, the study addressed three research questions as listed above.

Purposeful sampling was employed to recruit participants who could provide rich information of their experiences (Patton, 2015) during the pandemic. The study involved three complementary participant groups. First, three focus group discussions were conducted with 36 international students enrolled in three Ontario colleges: St. Clair College (n = 10), Sheridan College (n = 14), and Fleming College (n = 12). The focus group format encouraged participants to discuss shared experiences and collectively reflect on the challenges associated with maintaining transnational ties during the pandemic. Second, twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with international students from three Ontario universities: University of Toronto (n = 8), Trent University (n = 6), and University of Windsor (n = 7). These interviews provided participants with the opportunity to share detailed narratives about their personal experiences, emotional well-being, coping strategies, and relationships with family and friends across national borders. Third, eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff members from the same universities who worked directly with international students during the pandemic. These interviews provided valuable institutional perspectives regarding student needs and organizational responses to the challenges created by COVID-19.

To participate in the study, participants were required to be international students enrolled during the COVID-19 pandemic, have experience maintaining relationships with family or friends in their countries of origin, be willing to participate in either an interview or focus group discussion, and be able to communicate in English. Staff participants were selected because of their direct professional involvement in supporting international students throughout the pandemic.

The three methods of data collection complemented one another by capturing different dimensions of participants' experiences. Focus group discussions, which lasted approximately 90 to 120 minutes, explored students' experiences during COVID-19 (e.g., emotional and psychological well-being, financial concerns, academic experiences), transnational ties with family members abroad, and institutional support. Semi-structured interviews with students lasted between 60 and 90 minutes and explored similar topics while allowing participants to elaborate on issues that were personally significant. Staff interviews lasted approximately 45 to 75 minutes and focused on the challenges experienced by international students, institutional responses, student mental health concerns, and experiences providing services virtually.

All interviews and focus group discussions were audio-recorded with participants' informed consent, professionally transcribed verbatim, reviewed for accuracy, and anonymized through the removal of identifying information. Pseudonyms were assigned to all participants to protect confidentiality.

The qualitative data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-phase thematic analysis. The research team first became familiar with the data through repeated reading of transcripts, listening to audio recordings, and second, documenting initial reflections in analytic memos. Open coding was subsequently undertaken to identify meaningful segments of text, generating codes such as homesickness, loneliness, missing family, financial hardship, immigration uncertainty, digital communication, and institutional support. Related codes were then grouped into broader conceptual categories, which were progressively refined into coherent themes through iterative review and discussion among the research team. Throughout the analytical process, themes were continually reviewed against the original data to ensure conceptual coherence and internal consistency. The final themes were defined and interpreted in relation to the study's research questions and informed by the theoretical perspectives of transnationalism and social capital. Representative quotations were selected to illustrate the lived experiences and meanings expressed by participants (Braun and Clarke, 2006).

Results

The findings are presented according to the study's research questions. The first research question explored the lived experiences of international students during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the second examined how participants understood the role of transnational ties in shaping resilience during this period. Across the interviews and focus groups, five interconnected themes emerged. Together, these themes illustrate that although students experienced considerable social, emotional, and financial challenges during the pandemic. Transnational ties, digital communication technologies, and institutional supports functioned as interconnected sources of resilience.

Lived Experiences of International Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The first research question sought to understand the lived experiences of international students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two interrelated themes captured participants' accounts of their daily realities: 1. Social Isolation and Mental Health Challenges and 2. Financial Insecurity.

Participants consistently described the pandemic as a period characterized by loneliness, homesickness, anxiety, stress, and uncertainty. Travel restrictions prevented many students from returning home or visiting family members during times of crisis, intensifying feelings of emotional distress. Students also expressed concerns for the health and safety of loved ones in their countries of origin while simultaneously coping with the demands of studying in Canada under unprecedented circumstances. As one participant reflected, "Knowing I couldn't go home if something happened to my family was extremely stressful" (Participant 6, Focus Group 1).

Financial insecurity emerged as a second defining feature of international students' experience. Participants described losing employment, experiencing reduced financial support from family members whose own livelihoods had been disrupted by the pandemic, and struggling with rising living expenses. Rather than viewing financial hardship as an individual problem, students understood these challenges within the broader context of interconnected family responsibilities that extended across national borders. As one participant explained, "My parents lost income during the pandemic, so I couldn't ask them for help anymore" (Participant 2, Student Interview).

Together, these two themes demonstrate that international students experienced the pandemic as a psycho-social crisis that simultaneously affected their emotional well-being, financial security, and sense of belonging.

Transnational Ties as Sources of Resilience

The second research question examined how international students made meaning of their transnational ties and how these relationships contributed to resilience during the pandemic. Three related themes addressed this question: Families as Emotional Anchors, Digital Transnationalism, and Institutional Support.

Participants consistently described family members living in their countries of origin as their primary source of emotional strength throughout the pandemic. Frequent communication with parents, siblings, and extended family provided reassurance, encouragement, and a sense of stability during the pandemic. Students emphasized that transnational relationships enabled them to cope emotionally despite prolonged physical separation. One participant noted, "Talking to my parents in Ghana every day helped me get through lockdown" (Participant 4, Focus Group 2), while another explained, "Communicating with my parents in Nigeria every night helped me get through lockdown because I felt less alone" (Participant 5, Student Interview). Participants therefore understood resilience not simply as an individual attribute but as something nurtured through enduring family relationships that transcended national borders.

Digital transnationalism played a critical role in sustaining these transnational relationships. Participants described WhatsApp, Zoom, FaceTime, and WeChat as digital communication tools that enabled them to maintain meaningful connections with family members despite travel restrictions and physical separation. Rather than replacing face-to-face interaction, these technologies facilitated what Licoppe (2004) describes as a "connected presence," allowing participants to remain emotionally engaged in family life across borders. As one participant observed, "I was physically in Canada, but emotionally I was with my family every day in India" (Participant 2, Focus Group 3).

Participants also emphasized the important role played by Canadian post-secondary institutions. International students and staff described virtual counselling services, immigration advising, online programming, and regular communication from international student offices as valuable forms of institutional support during the pandemic. These services did not replace transnational family relationships; rather, they complemented existing support networks by addressing emotional and academic needs. One participant described this impotance of institutional support as: "The international student office at Trent University became my second family during COVID" (Participant 6, Student Interview).

Collectively, these three themes demonstrate that resilience was socially constructed through interconnected relationships that extended across national boundaries. Participants drew strength from family members abroad, while simultaneously relying on institutional resources within Canada, illustrating that resilience emerged through the interaction of transnational and local support systems rather than through individual coping alone.

Discussion

Consistent with previous studies, the results from this study highlight that during the pandemic, Canadian international students remained highly vulnerable because of their temporary immigration status, economic insecurity, and limited access to social protections (Chen et 2020; Firang, 2020; Varughese & Schwartz, 2025). In line with existing research this study has consistently shown that international students experienced, financial hardship (Firang, 2020; Firang & Mensah, 2022; Olatunji et al., 2023), and mental health challenges (Chen et 2020; Firang, 2020; Firang & Mensah, 2022; Wang & Liu, 2024) during the pandemic. Social isolation, uncertainty regarding immigration pathways, and separation from family members abroad further contributed to emotional stress and psychological distress (Chen et. al., 2020; Firang, 2020; Judge & Walton-Roberts, 2024; Olatunji et. al., 2023).

Despite the growing body of research on international students’ pandemic experiences, limited studies have linked these experiences to international students’ transnational ties. Consequently, this study contributes to the growing literature on transnationalism and transnational social work by demonstrating that international students remained embedded within transnational social fields throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Consistent with transnational theory, participants maintained meaningful relationships with family members and communities in their countries of origin despite severe restrictions on international mobility (Hari et. al., 2023; Liu-Farrer, 2022; Judge & Walton Roberts, 2024).

The findings further demonstrate that resilience among international students was fundamentally relational rather than individual. Participants describe resilience as emerging from sustained social relationships that crossed national borders. Family members abroad served as emotional anchors who helped students navigate isolation, homesickness, and uncertainty through frequent communication and ongoing expressions of care. These findings support previous research emphasizing the central role of kinship networks in migrant adaptation and well-being (Geddie, 2013; Levitt & Glick Schiller, 2004; Levitt, & Jaworsky, 2007; Ryan, 2011), while extending this literature by illustrating how transnational family relationships became particularly significant during the global health crisis.

The study also highlights the growing importance of digital transnationalism in maintaining cross-border relationships during periods of restricted mobility. Communication technologies enabled participants to sustain emotional intimacy despite physical separation, reinforcing Licoppe's (2004) concept of "connected presence." Rather than diminishing the importance of transnational ties, the pandemic accelerated participants' reliance on digital communication (Besser, et.al., 2022) as an essential means of preserving family relationships.

Finally, the findings suggest that resilience was strengthened through the interaction of social capital and transnational engagement of family support (Bourdieu, 1986; Putnam, 2000). institutional supports from Canadian universities and colleges did not replace students' social capital of transnational networks; instead, they complemented existing family relationships by providing counselling, immigration guidance, and practical assistance during the pandemic.

Implications for social work practice: This integrated understanding of social capital has important implications for international social work. At the micro level, social workers should routinely assess international students' transnational family relationships and incorporate these networks into culturally responsive assessment and intervention. At the mezzo level, post-secondary institutions should strengthen virtual peer-support initiatives, family-inclusive programming, and culturally responsive mental health services that recognize students' transnational lives. At the macro level, social workers should advocate for governments and higher education institutions to develop policies that recognize transnational family relationships as important social resources, expand emergency financial supports for international students, and incorporate the needs of international students into future public health emergency planning.

To synthesize the findings around the research questions, this study demonstrates that international students' lived experiences of mental health challenges, social isolation and financial precarity cannot be understood independently of the transnational relationships that sustained them during the pandemic. Their resilience emerged through the dynamic interaction of family networks, digital transnationalism, and institutional support systems, highlighting the importance of recognizing international students as active participants in transnational social worlds rather than temporary migrants living in isolation. This perspective provides a stronger conceptual foundation for developing responsive social work practice and policy that supports international students during future public health crises.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant structural vulnerabilities among Canada’s international students. This population group experienced extensive academic, financial, social, and mental health challenges during the pandemic. Amid the global crises, the study shows that transnational ties remained a fundamental aspect of international students' lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly all participants maintained connections with family members, friends, and communities in their countries of origin. These relationships provided emotional, financial, and practical support during a period characterized by uncertainty, isolation, and disruption.

The findings contribute to transnationalism scholarship by illustrating how digital communication technologies sustained cross-border relationships during a global crisis. The results also highlight the importance of institutional support from post-secondary institutions in shaping transnational engagement.

For social workers, educators, and policy makers, the study underscores the need to recognize and support the transnational dimensions of international students' lives. As international education continues to expand, understanding these cross-border relationships will help social workers to develop interventions to promote student well-being, resilience, and successful adaptation in host societies.

Disclosure statement - No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Funding - This article emerged from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), funded research project - International Students’ Lived Experiences and Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Acknowledgement: The author wishes to acknowledge the contributions of the following Research Assistants: Alex Bruneau (BSW Student, Trent University); Deanna Brown (BSW Student, Trent University); Dion Ian Lefleur (BSW Student, Trent University); Samuel Owusu (M.A Graduate Student, Trent University), Mohammed Abdulai (PhD Student, Trent University), Anthony Mensah (PhD Student, Trent University).

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