The number of foreign students seeking Canadian education continues to grow sharply. To put things into context, check the given article about ‘International Students are the Main Reason for Population Growth in Canada’.
Population growth if unregulated can be a problem for most parts of the world, but it is also imperative to maintain a certain ratio of growth to keep a nation healthy. Too little growth and the youth will get old and suffer, too much growth and overpopulation ensues.
In 2019, Canada is taking all the right steps to maintain this balance and there are a number of reasons that account for this population boost. The growth has reached a whopping 1.4% in 2018, which might not seem that great but is actually the highest among G7 countries. The primary reason for this is the strong increase in the non-permanent resident population, especially international students.
Canada has long been a popular destination for international students due to the high quality and relative affordability of post-secondary education in this country. More recently, changes to Canada’s immigration system and availability of Canadian post-secondary education (PSE) institutions have helped to take international student inflows to a new level. In addition to this uptick in international student volumes, a growing share appears to be choosing to permanently settle in Canada.
If these trends are sustained, Canada’s economy would benefit a lot over the long run through a larger, youthful, more diverse and highly skilled pool of labor.
Canada: A destination choice for international students
Both the rise of international students and its importance in the overall population is not a new development. Canada has long been an attractive location for foreign students from around the world. This is due to the High-quality post-secondary education (PSE)institutions it has to offer along with a diverse, politically stable and safe country.
Canadian PSE institutions have offered competitive tuition fees as compared to its competitors in the US and the UK. Moreover, a weaker Canadian dollar has helped to reduce further the relative cost of tuition as well as the overall cost of living for international students.
Canada benefits from International Students
Not only do international students benefit from studying in Canada, but Canada benefits from international students as well. International students contribute to the national economy. A recent study found that international students contributed around $21.5 billion to Canada’s economy in 2018, which is a great sum in itself but also has the added bonus that more and more of these international students are transitioning from non-permanent resident status to permanent resident status, which in the long term means further prosperity of the Canadian economy. Additionally, they also provide a boost to productivity and promote diversity in the country.
The bottom line is that Canada’s policies and safe environment has allowed it to be one of the only developed countries of the world to have a growth in population, seeing a revival since 2016, reaching the highest growth rates since the early 1990s and the major driver of that growth has been inflows of international students who have chosen to study in Canada for a variety of reasons.
It is difficult to say whether the impressive strength in international student inflows will continue at this current rapid pace over the years to come. To the extent that Canada can continue to attract bright and diverse talent, the economy definitely stands to benefit over the long haul.
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