bout de papier, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1988) — Spring 1988 // Printemps 1988, pp. 9–11
Can there be any doubt that hosting international students is beneficial to Canada? Yes, there can. Certainly the general public perception of international students is one of a “burden”, taking the place of Canadian students at the expense of Canadian taxpayers. In my lobbying activity on Parliament Hill two years ago, a parliamentarian expressed her reservation about the value of international students to Canadian society, noting that “my constituency members do not wish to pay for the education of non- Canadians. We have limited resources; these resources need to be spent on Canadians rather than foreigners.”
A closer evaluation of the cost and benefits of international students in Canada demonstrates the opposite. The costs are few; the benefits are many. Some of the benefits are financial; others are academic, cultural and political.
International students contribute to the Canadian economy financially. They are required by law to bring with them sufficient funds to cover all of their costs while in Canada, an amount which ranges from $7,000 to $15,000 per year per student, depending on the province and area of study. The Vancouver Board of Trade estimates the inflow of foreign capital from the spending of international students in Canada to be nearly $500 million per year, supporting some 17,000 jobs.
Findings of other studies seem to support this conclusion. University of Windsor Professor Reuben Green has demonstrated that foreign students play an important role in the Canadian economy. Similarly, a study by Ellen Waxman, conducted for the Ontario Federation of students, concluded that international students enrolled in Ontario universities pay more than 100% of the full average costs of their education. She calculates that international students contribute $455 million to the Canadian economy annually. Yet Canada charges international students a fee differential which goes beyond what Canadian students pay.
In 1985, a Maritime Province Higher Education Commission report confirmed that there were no economic reasons for student differential fees. The report estimated that international students contributed $18 million to the Maritime economy in the 1983-84 academic year. This spending level was higher than the total average educational costs of foreign students in the Maritime Provinces ($14 million).
The cost-benefit analysis of international students cannot be complete without examining the long-term effects of favourable economic and political relations with foreign countries. These benefits can hardly be quantified, but they are significant and can be easily and abruptly ended. When Great Britain established full-cost tuition fees for international students, Malaysia placed a boycott on British goods. If this were to happen here, Canada would stand to lose more than $100 million a year. In a world that is becoming more and more dependent on foreign trade, the role of international education progressively increases in importance.
An Australian study estimates that foreign students in that country contribute at least three times the marginal costs of their education to the Australian economy. The importance of this study lies in its examination of the trade effects factor. The Australians have concluded that 25% of their foreign trade with some countries is due to the influence of former international students educated in Australia.
American-Saudi trade relations provide another example. The majority of Saudi deputy ministers and senior civil servants, as well as leading businessmen, have received their education in the United States. Many of these graduates give preference when assigning contracts to American-based companies. In my research on Saudi Arabia, and during my teaching year at King Saud University, I interviewed many Saudi bureaucrats who talked fondly of their study years in the United States. This affection is usually coupled with respect for American know-how and equipment.
International students have helped monitor and extend Canadian research and development capacity, especially in area studies, science and engineering. A number of area-studies programs and departments are kept alive thanks to the attendance of international students. The Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University, for example, has more students from Muslim countries than Canadians. Recently, the Institute signed a multi-million dollar agreement with the Government of Indonesia to train Indonesian students in religious affairs.
Scholarship and research are intrinsically international in nature. As the Ontario Colleges and University Affairs stated in its document Tuition Fees for Foreign Graduate Students at Ontario Universities: Briefing Notes (1983):
- Universities are dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, scholarships and research activities that transcend national borders….
- Graduate-level education is enhanced by the presence of a diverse group of students who also bring to the task a variety of educational backgrounds, conceptual frameworks, and methodologies.
- In some academic areas, there is a shortage of qualified Canadian students, willing to do graduate study (e.g. computer science, engineering and certain natural and life sciences). The lack of Canadian candidates jeopardizes the future of advanced research in these areas.
International students fill the gaps, sometimes even keeping specialized schools and institutes open so that future Canadian students with an interest in these areas have the option of studying them in Canada. It is difficult to imagine how these disciplines would survive without foreign scholars.
In 1986-87, international students comprised 16.7% of post-secondary enrolment in Canada, and the percentage is even higher in departments with solid international reputations. In fact, a good indication of academic excellence is the number of foreign scholars and students a department or a university attracts. The Council of Ontario Universities recently explained that “across a variety of academic outlines, Ontario universities offer doctorate options and engage in research activities that enjoy an international reputation. This attracts high quality students from abroad who in turn contribute both to their strength and reputation.”
The presence of international students enhances the quality of education experienced by Canadian students who learn about other people and cultures first hand; this benefit applies as well to local communities. In multi-cultural Canada, many small communities have little access to the cultures and traditions of other countries. International students are usually invited to discussion groups, public awareness meetings and cross-cultural exchange events to talk about their country and their experience in Canada. A number of international students told me that they perceive themselves as the ambassadors of their country in Canada. “I have a moral duty to explain my country to Canadians, and to explain Canada to my compatriots,” an international student told me.
Many graduates from Canadian universities have taken good memories back to their home countries, and serve as unofficial diplomatic and trade ambassadors for Canada. While no studies have yet been completed identifying the positions occupied by foreign graduates of Canadian institutions and the links forged for Canada by these graduates, specific examples exist. In a brief and informative survey conducted by CBIE in 1986, we were able to identify some prominent graduates of Canadian institutions in Zambia, Singapore, Guyana, Bangladesh, Israel, Japan, Tunisia, Belgium, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Lesotho, Greece, Rwanda, Papua-New Guinea and the West Indies.
The international graduates of Canadian post-secondary institutions form an influential group. They include university presidents, senior civil servants, diplomats, heads of business and industry. What is needed is a more elaborate inventory of names, and a deliberate plan of action to maintain contact to promote relations between Canada and other countries through these ambassadors of good will.
Canada is a country of trade and commerce. More than one-quarter of the country’s gross domestic product is destined for export.
Business to Canada can be readily traced to preferences of international entrepreneurs who were once students in Canada. A 1986 article in the Toronto Star describes the ease with which the Eaton Company arranged its “Eaton’s Uncrates the Sun: Salute to Hong Kong” promotion, precisely because Hong Kong business people were already familiar with – and eager to do business with – their Canadian counterparts. The link with Canada is so strong that a banquet hosted by the Canadian Trade Commissioner and the Dean of the Faculty of Management at the University of Toronto to publish a new MBA project drew 250 of Hong Kong’s business elite.
An equally impressive show of commitment was expressed early last year at a reception in Kuala Lumpur hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner to Malaysia. The more than 200 guests, mostly Malaysian graduates of Canadian universities, represented a diverse community of future leaders of Malaysia. Feeling at home with Canadians, the guests concentrated on what university or college they attended, what they liked most about Canada, and how they benefited from their Canadian education in their present career. For many, the question was, “Why has Canada forgotten us?” A Malay engineer who works in his father’s large construction firm said; “I would like to do more business with Canada, but Canadians are slow in responding to our requests.”
The role of international students as trade ambassadors is well documented in other countries. An Australian study of overseas student policy entitled Mutual Advantage reported that former international students in one country had influenced decisions involving projects and contracts to the value of approximately $100 million per year and about 25% of the total value of Australia’s exports to that country.
While difficult to calculate, the trade benefits may be as high or higher for Canada. Realizing the importance of international education to Canada, A.J. de Grandpre, Chairman of Bell Canada, noted that “from observations made while participating in the global market, I have come to the conclusion that Canada needs to make changes in order to be successful internationally. One of those changes involves greater effort on our part in the field of international education.” Elaborating on this point, de Grandpre expressed the view that his company does not look to government for help to subsidize their products. “We do require support, however, in finding foreign buyers.” This support can be found through former graduates who are the leaders of foreign countries. These graduates would become the business or political elite who, in five, 10 or 15 years, could be the purchasers of goods and services. Would they not prefer to do business with former classmates with whom they developed friendships while studying in Canada, rather than deal with new commercial acquaintances?
Although the benefits and advantages are clear, international students in Canada face many problems. Some of these problems may be attributed to federal-provincial relations. While education is acknowledged to be a provincial responsibility, the federal government can provide more than half of the funding for possible secondary education. Through the Established Program Funding (EPF), the provinces have the jurisdiction to determine what portion of the EPF is allocated to education. While Ottawa claims to have increased the EPF allocation for education, the provinces seem to have allocated this increase to health services. Consequently, a number of provinces charge fee differential to international students to recover some of the expenses related to their education.
Statistics Canada’s latest report shows that international students in Canada will pay higher differential fees to reflect a combined surcharge and annual inflationary increase. Differential fees to new international students vary from $1416 for undergraduates in Alberta to $5850 in Quebec. At present, seven provinces charge differential fees; Newfoundland, Manitoba and Saskatchewan do not. Ontario and Quebec charge the highest fees.
One of the consequences of imposing differential fees is that Canada is less attractive for international students. Since 1982-83, international student enrolments have declined steadily. Total post-secondary enrolment decreased from 37,269 students in 1985-86 to 35,155 in 1986-87, a reduction of 5.7%. Over a five-year period (1982-87), an overall decline of 19.4% took place.
Certainly it is misleading to attribute the decline of international students in Canada exclusively to differential fees. A number of other factors need to be considered, including the devaluation of many Third World currencies, decline of economic growth in the Third World, the establishment of national universities and colleges in the lesser developed countries, the absence of solid Canadian marketing strategies, and tendencies among international students to choose education in one country over another.
Compared to other countries, Canada’s position vis-a-vis international students needs improvement. India is an underdeveloped country with little resources to spend on the education of non-Indian citizens. Still, the country’s higher education system includes first-class universities and research institutes which attract students from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Although no exact figures regarding the number of international students in India exist, estimates suggest their number between 40,000-120,000 of a total enrolment of about 3.5 million students.
What is not in doubt is the basic policy of the country’s University Grants Commission, which controls the financing of universities for the Central Government. In a country where tuition fees count for 5% or less of higher education revenue, it is national policy not to charge differential fees to international students.
The benefits of having international students in Canada are obvious. The recent Winegard report and the government’s response to it are a good beginning. The increase in the number of scholarships to Francophone and Commonwealth students are moves in the right direction. CIDA’s commitment to human resources development projects reflects a keen awareness that the wealth of nations is found in their people. But more remains to be done. Consistent federal-provincial policies on international students are needed. More scholarships to needy and qualified students from nonfrancophone and non-Commonwealth countries are important to diversify the international student population. Increased involvement of female students from Asia, Africa and Latin America is important if Canada is to play a role in international development.
International education is also good business for Canada. A more coordinated marketing strategy needs to be worked out between and within federal and provincial agencies and departments. We can learn some lessons from the British Council and the recently established Australian agency to market the country’s educational services abroad. Canadian educational services mean money to Canada. In the past five years alone, the Canadian Bureau for International Education brought to Canada projects worth some $73 million. A solid Canadian marketing strategy will enable us to do more.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1988) — Spring 1988 // Printemps 1988, pp. 9–11. Read the rest of this issue →
