International students attending Canadian universities - 3 times the number in 2000.

Canada Aims to Woo International Students


Young people from all over the world walk through the Bahen Center for Information Technology
at the University of Toronto, which has the most international students in Canada.

Approximately 3.7 million students sought post-secondary education outside their home countries in 2009, compared with 800,000 in 1975, according to Unesco and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This year, the number of international students in Canada exceeded 100,000 for the first time — triple the number who studied there in 2000.

Edward Fast, the Canadian minister of international trade and for the Pacific Gateway, released a report by a government panel in August that recommended that Canada double its number of international students by 2022. It called international education “the driver for economic prosperity and social progress.” “Last year, international students contributed more than 8 billion dollars to Canada’s economy,” Mr. Fast said by e-mail, referencing an amount equal to about $7.8 billion at current rates. “They supported 86,000 Canadian jobs.” “But the benefits transcend economics as well,” he added. “They’re helping us build a diverse, skilled and globally focused workforce.”

“When international students think about where to go, our main competition is the U.S., the U.K. and Australia,” said Paul Davidson, president of the Association of Colleges and Universities of Canada. “We must get Canada on the list of places people consider.” He added that about 8 percent of Canadian students were from overseas, which is about double the percentage in the United States.

They can also obtain foreign work credentials: After earning a four-year undergraduate degree, they can apply to work in Canada for up to three years. Other nations are not as generous: In the United States, international students are eligible to work only on campus, and many struggle to stay in the country after graduation. Tough visa rules have led to a foreign student “brain drain".

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/education/25iht-educlede25.html?pagewanted=1&ref=global-home&_r=0