Report Says Canada Can Double International College and University Student Population

Canada’s a Hot Spot for Foreign Students

The report is titled “International Education: A Key Driver of Canada’s Future Prosperity” and was prepared by the Advisory Panel on Canada’s International Education Strategy. It states that Canada’s innovation and fight against a looming skills shortage would benefit from our international student body growing from about 239,000 (last year’s numbers) to more than 450,000 by 2022.

“Canada’s education systems have the capacity to absorb new international students without displacing domestic students,” the panel wrote in the report.

“The panel believes that Canada has a competitive advantage over many other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom. The time to act is now so that Canada’s full potential in international education can be fully realized.”

Aside from the growth of Canada’s human capital and collective skill base, the report also points to the sheer amount of money that these students would generate.

“In 2010, international students in Canada spent in excess of $7.7 billion on tuition, accommodation and discretionary spending (up from $6.5 billion in 2008). More than $6.9 billion of this revenue was generated by the 218,200 long-term international students in Canada.”