Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - February 2008
University enrollment in Canada is at an all-time high, according to last week’s report from Statistics Canada, and the continuous rise has been attributed, at least partially, to a substantial amount of foreign students in the country.
The most recent data available on Canada’s foreign student population shows that in the school year of 2005-2006, over 80,000 people studying in Canada were international students.
Approximately one-quarter of the foreign population studying in Canada is from China. There are also many students from India, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea. Over three-quarters of the foreign student population choose Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec as their destination.
Many universities in Canada charge higher tuition fees to international students and the cost of living in Canada (away from home) can be a heavy burden to bear. However, often foreign students are able to come to Canada on scholarships and for those who are not, the positives, such as a world-renowned standard of education and the life experience, outweigh the negatives.
On the other side, post-secondary educational institutions in Canada are increasingly aware of the positives that foreign students can bring to the table as well. Susan Gottheil, who works in the enrolment department as Mont Royal College in Calgary, notes this new trend in thinking in similar departments across the country.
“We live in a global economy,” Gottheil said in an interview with the Calgary Herald. “It’s a benefit for our students as well as students coming here to have different perspectives, global perspectives.”
In this new kind of global community, schools are becoming more aggressive in recruiting students internationally, one of the causes attributed to the latest statistics. Other factors that have been cited by experts include Canada’s more open stance toward immigration, as well as the rising economic power of Eastern countries whose students can afford to get a global education.
Source:
The Calgary Herald
