Briefing on International Education: A Key Driver of Canada’s Future Prosperity August 2012 report to the Government of Canada

1. In 2011, the Government of Canada set up a six-member panel to advise on Canada’s international education strategy. The panel was led by Dr. Amit Chakma, president of the University of Western Ontario (and former international student).  On 14th August 2012 the panel released its report, International Education: A Key Driver of Canada’s Future Prosperity¹.  The report was commissioned for a variety of reasons. Principal among them is the recognition that foreign students generate a great deal of revenue for Canada. The report cites a 2011 study that found international students contributed $8 billion to the Canadian economy in 2010. Education services are now Canada’s 11th largest export and its greatest export to many developing countries, including China. The Canadian government hopes that beyond generating revenue, these international students will provide skilled labour if they choose to stay in Canada or create strong economic ties to Canada if they return to their country of origin.

2. This report was born of the need to create a national strategy for international education in a country where education at all levels falls under provincial jurisdiction and there is no national department of education. Several provinces had previously undertaken research to create their own international education strategy but no national plan is currently in place. However, there have been no signs from the federal government that they will immediately respond to the report and international education has not been identified as a priority for Canadian foreign affairs in 2012-2013.²

3. The panel published its report on 14th August 2012.  The report proposes 14 recommendations, key among them are:
   1. Double the number of international students choosing Canada by 2022 from 239,131 in 2011 to more than 450,000 by 2022.
   2. Introduce an International Mobility Program for Canadian Students to offer 50,000 students per year the opportunity to study abroad by 2022. The Government of Canada would invest funds (an amount was not recommended) for this programme that would in turn be matched by institutions and/or provinces/territories and private donors.
   3. Focus Canada’s promotional efforts on a limited number of priority markets³ for targeted resource allocation.
   4. Develop comprehensive and multifaceted bilateral agreements with priority countries that focus on all aspects of graduate education and research, supported by appropriate levels of funding.

4. Much of the document relates to Canada’s strategy to recruit international students. However, the report also suggests some promising opportunities for UK universities which British Council Canada is well placed to support.

International Students choosing Canada

5. As Canada aims to increase the numbers of international students studying in Canada, UK universities could target international students in Canada for further study in the UK. For example, UK universities could initiate a targeted campaign aimed at the significant numbers of Chinese or Saudi Arabian students in Canada.

International Mobility Programme for Canadian Students

6. There are opportunities for UK universities to capitalise on the push to encourage Canadians to study abroad.  The report notes that “Canada lags behind competitor countries in international mobility for domestic students” (about nine in 10 Canadian students go to university in their home province) suggesting growth potential.  HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) stats show that the number of Canadians studying in the UK increased by 55% from 2005 to 2011, and with support from the Government of Canada this growth could be expected to continue or even escalate.
7. UK universities could explore the potential to partner with the proposed International Mobility Program to leverage targeted marketing activities aimed at Canadian students. Canada’s importance to the UK’s higher education sector has substantially increased over the last ten years.  Canada is now the UK’s 16th largest market and 2nd largest in the Americas region ahead of Brazil.

Priority Markets

8. The report recommends Canada should focus its international education resources on identified priority countries and mature markets.  The UK is identified as a mature market that “should receive substantial resources” (although there are no recommendations on how much should be committed or how this funding should be spent).  This could result in heightened interest among Canadian universities in developing exchange programmes and study abroad partnerships with UK universities, to both send and receive students.

9. UK universities could forge stronger links with universities in Western Canada.  In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Dr. Chakma said he expected most of the growth in international recruitment to take place in the expanding economies of the Western provinces.  While many UK universities have focused their recruitment efforts on the Southern Ontario region, there will be opportunities to build partnerships and exchanges with institutions in the increasingly prosperous North and West.

10. There is also potential to develop faculty exchange programmes, to enable Canadian and UK faculty to form relationships and “cultivate best practice in international pedagogies”.

Action

11. British Council Canada will be taking stock of the response to this report among Canadian international education professionals in the coming months.  We expect that a number of opportunities to develop Canada-UK international education partnerships will arise.  To explore the possibilities please get in touch.