While it happened suddenly, it was not the first time that Canada has found itself losing thousands of international students from a single country. It underscores the importance of every international education program - post-secondary, K-12 and ESL - sourcing students from a wide range of nations.
Canada has rapidly grown its international student population to 495,000 students - an increase of 119 percent in the past seven years. However, it has been less successful in diversification.
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AUZINS: "Tough time"
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The importance of diversification is a story that the English-language sector knows all too well. In the early 1990s, Canadian private language schools and post-secondary programs were filled with students from Asia, particularly Korea and Japan. It seemed like someone was opening a new school every month.
In 1997, Korea's economy collapsed and the Won sank. Many Koreans became unemployed and others could no longer afford to buy the dollars needed to send a child to Canada to learn English. Canada lost thousands of students and many private schools closed.
"Our industry is always vulnerable to the world economy as well as the policies of Canada and those countries where students are coming from," says Sammy Takahashi, who has worked in the sector for more than 25 years. He is now with International House Vancouver, which is trying to attract students from growing markets such as Turkey and Eastern Europe.
"I think most of our members are pretty diversified already, especially the private language schools," says Linda Auzins of Languages Canada, the industry association. "They learned this lesson in the late 1990s when those who were totally dependent on Asian students had a pretty tough time."
Indeed, Languages Canada reports that there is strong representation at its member schools from each of the top five student source countries: Japan, Brazil, South Korea, Mexico and China. ESL student numbers for 2016 ranged from 9,000 Mexicans to 21,000 Japanese.
Other international education sectors are not as well-balanced.
China and India dominate post-secondary
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NOLLE: Serious
campaign to diversify
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The Canadian Bureau for International Education points out that more than half of post-secondary students come from just two countries - China and India. China is the leader with 28 percent of students, while India is a close second with 25 percent.
In Ontario, post secondary institutions faced with reduced provincial government funding are becoming more reliant on international tuition fees. Jos Nolle, executive director of Seneca International, says that there are 7,000 international students at Seneca, comprising a quarter of the full-time student population.
A decade ago, the majority of international students at Seneca came from just one country - China.
When Nolle joined the college four years ago, he knew that he needed to embark on a serious campaign to diversify the number of source countries. In 2014, 70 percent of students were from only five countries - China, India, South Korea, Russia and Ukraine.
As students start classes at Seneca this September, 10 different countries now make up 70 percent of the international students, although China and India still dominate. "Ideally, we will not have any country bring us more than 20 percent, but that will still be a stretch goal for the coming five to 10 years," Nolle says.
Seneca is taking a number of steps to recruit students from new countries. For example, it participates in ICEF Agent Fairs, where it focuses on connecting with agents from emerging markets.
It's not just about bums in seats. Seneca wants to understand which students will succeed at the college. "We are not interested in just applications but in the right kind of students applying to the right kind of programs," Nolle emphasizes.
The K-12 sector faces a similar challenge
More than 51 percent of the 56,000 international students who attend elementary and secondary schools in Canada come from China.
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MILLS: Minimize risk. |
Tim Mills is the superintendent in charge of international education at the Upper Canada District School Board, which covers small cities in eastern Ontario, including Brockville and Cornwall. When the board started its international education program a decade ago almost all the students came from China.
"In the past 5 years, we have worked hard to minimize our risk by reducing our reliance on the Chinese market. We have gone from 85 percent of our international students being from China to 55 percent. We recognized that relying on one source country increases liability should an unforeseen event happen abroad."
Upper Canada now has students from 20 countries, with Germany, Italy and Mexico among the leaders, in addition to China. As well, Brazil and Vietnam are emerging markets for the board. The district has an extensive marketing plan that includes staff traveling to new countries to meet with agents, attending ICEF events and hiring partners in some countries to find new agents.
Bonnie McKie, executive director of the Canadian Association of Public Schools - International, says the organization is helping districts to attract a wider range of students. "The primary intent of CAPS-I marketing activities and missions abroad is to support the diversification of international student enrolment in public high schools across the country," she says.
