International students have been a significant source of revenue for the Alberta, contributing more thab $7.7 billion by way of education fees and related stay expenses. Over the past five years, international students have grown by about 40% in numbers
Education Revenue has doubled over past 5 years. Compared to Alberta, Manitoba has almost doubled its intake, but since its initial intake over past few years was relatively lower, doubling has no significant impact on numbers. Similarly Saskatchewan has seen a more than 24-per-cent increase in numbers over past five years, Overall making Canada as one of the most preferred destination for education by international students
Surprisingly, many Canadian Universities have reported decline in enrolment of local students but the decline is more than compensated by the tuition fees contributed by International Students. Even otherwise an international student pays close to 300% of the fees as payable by local student and hence the fall in revenue from local students is more than compensated
Alberta Government Emphasizing on building Global Reputation as Education Destination- Alberta Government is also watching the developments closely. It has assisted the education sector with more than $16 million to help them improve their education standards and strengthen campuses to have a healthy global reputation.
Most of the international students have been opting for Business and Engineering degrees. Interestingly, medicine has not been the preferred choice for most of the students. This is despite the fact that most students especially international students in Canada tend to opt for high paying professions.
Studying in Canada helps Immigrating to Canada faster-Another reason for opting for education in Canada by international students is that with current immigration policies, Education and experience in Canada is gradually becoming one of the vital parameter for immigrating. Out of all the preferred immigration destination as USA, Australia, Britain and Canada, Canada lays maximum emphasis on education in Canada and thus study in Canada becomes crucial for gaining immigration to Canada subsequently.
Permitting students to work while studying which helps them partially compensate for their cost of living also makes these students chose Canada as preferred destination for study.