Canada plans to attract more international students by expanding its quality abroad with an end goal to propel homeroom decent variety and boost economic benefits that as of now add up to billions every year.
The economic impacts of foreign students about multiplied somewhere in the range of 2010 and 2016 when they reached a total of $15.5 billion in Canada for everything from tuition fees to rent and groceries, according to a federal analysis.
To place that in context, the document says the sector supported about 170,000 employment in 2016 and had more noteworthy monetary effects than Canada’s fares of car parts, airship, and timber.
The vast majority of remote understudies have been originating from India and China, while late years have seen floods from nations with fast-growing economies like Vietnam.
Decision day in Alberta: Voters head to polls in provincial election
Authorities from colleges, schools and the federal government are currently in the early stages of building up an “adjusted” procedure that will broaden campaigns in different pieces of the world, Universities Canada president Paul Davidson said in an interview. He expects Canada to promote itself as an education destination in places with expanding economies and large populations of young people, like Colombia and parts of Africa.
“We’re looking at where in the world there is a growing middle-class demand for higher education, a place where Canada has got linkages and connections,” said Davidson, whose organization represents 96 institutions.
Canada has been an attractive place to study for years. In 2000, federal numbers show there were 122,665 valid study permits in Canada — a number that hit 572,415 last year for an increase of 467 percent. Numbers compiled by Universities Canada say full-time international student enrolment at universities rose by about 15 percent across Canada between 2017 and 2018.
The 2018 growth came despite a diplomatic dispute last August between Canada and Saudi Arabia, which has been one of the top home countries for international university students.
The Saudi government suspended diplomatic ties with Canada, expelled the Canadian ambassador and recalled its own envoy to Ottawa after Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and her department criticized the regime on Twitter for its arrest of social activists. Saudi Arabia also ordered thousands of its citizens studying in Canada to come home.
Davidson said diplomatic efforts by the federal officials and the higher-education community helped reduce the impact. In the end, he said many Saudi students stayed, including medical trainees who had been in Canada for several years as well as those in studying in other areas of health science and some graduate programs.
“The Saudi situation underscored the importance of having a diverse range of countries to work with,” Davidson said.
Denise Amyot, president, and CEO of Colleges and Institutes Canada said foreign students bring new perspectives that help their Canadian classmates better understand the world. Their higher tuition fees strengthen institutions and ensure a wider choice of programs are offered for all students, she added.
Amyot, who represents 132 publicly funded colleges and institutes, said her members have also seen rising numbers of international students. In 2006-07, she said foreign students made up a four percent share of enrolment in the college system — by 2015-16, it had grown to eight percent.
She said immigration policy changes in Canada have helped it compete with other countries in attracting the world’s increasingly mobile post-secondary students. The policies, she added, have sped up visa processing times, permitted foreign students to work in Canada while they study and improve a graduate’s chance of obtaining permanent residency.
Numbers from the Immigration Department show that last year 10,950 former study permit holders became permanent residents. Between 2015 and 2017, the annual total failed to eclipse 3,000.
“Some of our best immigrants, in fact, have been international students that have studied in Canada, worked in Canada,” said Amyot. “This becomes very, very attractive and Canada has a shortage of employees right now, so it is really helping our labor-market situation.”
To advertise, please contact our advertising team here: Advertise with us
