The vast majority of international students come to Canada from India and China, and in recent years they have been joined by young people from rapidly growing economies – Vietnam, for example. Representatives of universities, colleges and the federal government are now developing a joint strategy to expand the campaign to attract students from other parts of the world – Colombia and some regions of Africa – to study in Canada.
As Russianweek.ca notes, Canada has long been an attractive place to study. In 2000, 122,665 valid study permits were issued, and in 2018 their number reached 572,415, an increase of 467 percent. Between 2017 and 2018, the number of full-time students at Canadian universities grew by about 15 percent across the country.
Last month, Canada's federal budget allocated about $148 million for international education. Part of this amount over five years will also go towards efforts to attract more international students to Canada.
Changes in Canada's immigration policy have helped it compete with other countries in attracting foreign students – they began to process visas faster, allowed them to work in Canada while studying, and increased graduates' chances of obtaining permanent resident status. According to the immigration department, last year 10,950 former foreign students who studied in Canada became legal immigrants in the country.