The following is excerpted from the IRCC presentation given on May 1, 2018.
International Students
International Education in Canada: Current Context
- International students enrich the academic environment for domestic students and contribute more than $10 billion a year to the Canadian economy.
- The Government of Canada launched a new International Education Strategy in 2014 designed to drive growth even further over the next decade.
- Increasingly coordinated recruitment efforts together with immigration policy changes have enhanced Canada’s attractiveness.
- For Canada, a successful International Student Program requires balancing facilitative measures to attract international students with program integrity checks to prevent program abuse and protect the Canadian labour market.
International Student Program Trends
Growth in numbers of study permit applications across all levels of study in 2017 (January to November):
- Primary/Secondary (K-12): 41,916 SP applications-an increase of 8.4% from 2016
- ESL/FSL: 30,702 SP applications – an increase of 24.8% from 2016
- College: 80,431 SP applications -an increase of 29.7% from 2016
- University: 73,235 SP applications – an increase of 6.7% from 2016
International Student application destinations are concentrated in 3 provinces: Ontario (46%), British Columbia (22%), Quebec (12%), Prairie provinces combined (11%), and Atlantic provinces combined (5%).
Top 5 Countries of international student origin in Canada include: China (27%), India (25%), Korea (6%), France (4%), and Brazil (3%).
Updates on Program Delivery Instructions
- Off-campus work permit
- Post-graduation work permit
- Actively pursuing studies clarifications
