trends-2011-vol1-enrolment-e

The next nine jurisdictions – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Japan,
Pakistan, Taiwan, Germany Mexico and Nigeria – account for
16 percent of Canada’s full-time international students. These nine
countries sent between 1,000 and 2,200 students each to Canada.
The remaining countries sent fewer than 1,000 students each
and accounted for one-third of international students, providing
Canadian-born students with a tremendous breadth of culture
in the classroom.
It is interesting to note how quickly the international student market
has grown, where that growth is taking place, and also how quickly
students respond to recruitment efforts and incentives put in place
by their own or other countries. For example, in 1980, there were
only 650 Indian students enrolled at Canadian institutions. Indian
students enrolment fluctuated between 1980 and 1997 when it
began to grow rapidly. By 2008, there were almost 3,000 Indian
students registered at Canadian universities – an approximate
FIGURE 13:
Top source countries have changed since 1980
five-fold increase since 1997. Enrolment of Indian students is also
likely to continue to grow in future years because the population in
India is growing very rapidly, and because there has been a concerted
effort on the part of the Canadian higher education sector to attract
students from India. For example, in November 2010, AUCC led
a delegation of 15 university presidents to India where more than
$4 millions in student aid targeted to bring Indian students to
Canada was announced. 9 In recent years, the BC-based Network
Centre of Excellence MITACS, as well as the governments of
Ontario and Quebec have also introduced initiatives to attract
students from India.
Saudi Arabia is another example of a country that is increasingly
sending students to Canada. In 2008-2009, Saudi Arabia became
the seventh leading source country, up from 13 th position the year
before. This growth was driven in part by substantial investments
on the part of the Saudi government, and in part by recruitment
efforts of various Canadian institutions, working in collaboration
with their counterparts abroad.
Full-time enrolment
18,000
16,000
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
2008
2006
2004
2002
2000
1998
1996
1994
1992
1990
1988
1986
1984
1982
1980
China
United States
South Korea
France
India
Global growth in foreign and international students
It is not possible to get completely comparable information on
changes in international university students in all countries,
so it is not possible to report on precise changes in the market
shares for each country. Several countries still report students
who were born elsewhere but have lived in the country for many
years – and therefore did not move to their current country to
attend university – as foreign students. In recent years, the OECD
has a made a major effort to exclude these students by creating
a narrower definition of international students to include only
those students who have moved from one country to another to
attend university. Given this recent reporting adaptation, it is not
possible to report on long-term international enrolment trends.
Source: Statistics Canada data and AUCC estimates
AUCC
Trends in Higher Education | Volume 1. Enrolment | 17