International student enrolment at Canadian universities continues to rise

Canadian universities continue to attract large numbers of students, but now they want to diversify their sources so they don’t have to rely on a few key nations.

In 2014, the federal government set a target of more than 450,000 international students attending Canadian educational institutions by 2022, roughly doubling their numbers from 2011. That box got checked by 2017. A year later – as of December 31, 2018 – Canada had a record 572,000 international students, at all education levels, representing a 16-percent increase from the previous year, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. At the post-secondary level, the number was 435,415, an 18-percent jump.

The University of British Columbia has seen international enrolment climb nearly 60 percent in four years. It has 16,000 international students, representing a quarter of its enrolment.

The University of Windsor opened its first international recruitment office last December, in New Delhi, to better service its top international market of India (followed by China, Nigeria and Bangladesh). The university’s special focus on students interested in a master’s degree in business or STEM disciplines has more than paid off: international students make up 70 percent of the university’s graduate student enrolment of about 2,700 students, representing a six-fold increase in the last decade.

Canada’s immigration policy allows international students to work during and after their studies, and provides a pathway to permanent residency, which some 60 percent of international students planned to seek, according to a 2018 CBIE survey. A low Canadian dollar and Canada’s reputation for quality and safety, have also contributed to Canada’s popularity, said observers.

The good news story could be a double-edged sword if planners aren’t careful, though. When Canada got into a spat with China – by far the top source country for international university students – over the arrest of Chinese senior telecommunications executive Meng Wanzhou, Moody’s credit agency warned that if political tensions between the two countries worsened, this could pose credit risks for Canadian universities.

A significant rejection would leave universities exposed. In its budget report for 2018-2019, the University of Toronto noted that international student fees at 30 percent of revenue accounted for more than provincial grants at 25 percent.

That has made “diversification” a hot issue among Canadian international education administrators. There’s much applause for the federal government’s 2019 budget earmarking 148 million Canadian dollars (HK$868 million) over the next five years for a new international education strategy, part of which is intended to promote Canada to “top-tier foreign students,” so that they choose it as their “education destination of choice.”

For more details, visit the www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/international-student-enrolment-continues-to-soar-in-canada/