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International students represent 53.7 per cent of the student population in Canada at the undergraduate and graduate level. Concentrated in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia international graduate students pay approximately $15,500 a year in tuition and fees, a number three times that of nationals, according to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). Overall International students provided $6.5 billion dollars to the Canadian economy, generated north of $291 million in government revenue and created 83,000 jobs. “International students provide a significant boost to Canada’s economy. Their presence helps create thousands of jobs and generates billions in revenue. Our government will continue its efforts to promote Canada as the destination of choice for international students by enhancing outreach efforts at our missions around the world,” said Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway. In 2008, the Government of Canada announced the launch of an ongoing branding campaign, entitled Imagine, aimed at attracting more international students. Reaching over 85 nations around the world the campaign capitalized on the ability of a Canadian education to open doors. Western countries such as Canada are premier destinations for International students. Recently the market has become more competitive forcing countries to create attractive legislation and programs to entice students not only to study but also to stay.
The 2008-2009 recession was a significant blow to the Canadian economy. According to a study conducted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce the job market shed 189,000 jobs in 2009 with the majority lost in the manufacturing or goods producing industries (mining, forestry, oil and gas and forestry). Outside of recessionary pressure, a principal force with an adverse effect on the labour market is demographics. The population is aging and there is lower growth in the working age population to replenish them. In fact, in the last 30 years the working age population has slowed by more than a third with projections confident it will slow further. This will put downward pressure on aggregate employment rate and create labour shortages in skilled trades and professional occupations. Without the domestic reserves for workers the country must turn to immigration as an available pool of labour.
Immigration has long since been a source of growth for Canada. In the past five years it has relied on immigration for nearly two-thirds of the population growth and it is forecasted to account for almost 100 per cent of the net labour force growth in the next decade. The goal is to attract and retain highly skilled workers with a responsive and proactive immigration system making Canada an employment destination. “Our ability to retain international graduates with Canadian qualifications, work experience and familiarity with Canadian society, will help increase our competitiveness and benefit Canada as a whole,” says Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
In an effort to train and retain, Canada has improved its work permit policies making it more attractive to stay in Canada after graduation. The updated Post-Graduation Work Permit can be applied to after graduation at either the undergraduate, graduate or doctorate level. Applicants do not require a current job offer and are free to work in any one of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories. It is valid for the term of your education to a maximum of three years, which is an extension to the previous two-year program. Applicants must have studied a full time program that was at least eight months long at a public or private post-secondary institution. Interested students must apply for the permit within 90 days of receiving graduation confirmation and have a valid study permit when they do so. Students are not eligible if they have participated in any scholarship program from Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) or Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). As an added bonus, recipients and their spouses/dependents living in Ontario may also be eligible for Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage. Canadian work experience is a great way to kick start the career of any young graduate whether they intend to apply for permanent citizenship or return home.
In an international student orientated study conducted by the Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE) the single most highest factor for coming to Canada was the quality of the education and 95 per cent of the students said they think Canada is the place to reach their educational goals/potential. Backed by a marketing campaign with a global reach and a progressive work permit program Canada is successfully selling its brand to students from such countries as China, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. However, only a third of the students graduating from Canadian post secondary institutions stay in Canada to live and work. The other two thirds either return home to leverage their Canadian education or choose another country to live and work. With countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and France adopting more comprehensive strategies to retain their international students Canada will have to really sell the potential of the great white north.
decline in enrollment from countries such as China, India and South Korea since 2006. The Economic Times of India recently reported a 25% reduction of Visa applications from Indian citizens. This reduction was not a result of the difficulty of citizens qualifying for the Visas but rather the reductions in the financial aid packages being offered by American universities to Indian students, decreasing the desire of many of them to apply for Visas. This trend is noticed in other Asian countries as well. Those same countries are developing their own schools equipped with a globalized curriculum and an abundance of potential students. This drain of talent has prompted many North American business schools to develop partnerships with Asia in order to have a hand in shaping the graduate education of this highly competitive candidate pool.
