| By Sophia Lowe, Research & Policy Analyst, World Education Services Canada International student mobility has become a globally competitive industry, where marketing strategies and immigration pathways have become increasingly aligned. From 2000 to 2008, the number of internationally mobile students across the world doubled, from 1.8 million to 3.3 million (OECD, 2010 ). In Canada, international student numbers at all levels of education more than doubled in ten years, from 97,336 in 1999 to 196,227 in 2009 (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2009). International student migration has become a precursor to high skilled immigration – and competition in this regard is mounting.
World Education Services (WES) recently hosted a symposium, International Students: the New Skilled Migrants held in November in Toronto, Canada. The focus was the increasingly important role of international students as permanent migrants and the need to learn from other nations’ experience. Particular attention and praise was given to Canada for having favourable conditions – including policies, history and socio-economic fabric – to recruit and retain an increasing share of the world’s international student migrants.
This article focuses on the growing importance and prioritization of international students as skilled migrants in the Canadian context, showcasing Canadian and international information presented during the WES symposium. This includes lessons and challenges for Canada in terms of immigration policy; institutional change and quality assurance; recruitment; and settlement and integration needs and outcomes.
Canada in the Context of Global International Student Migration With the expansion of tertiary education globally, the number of students crossing international borders for educational purposes has grown almost threefold since 1980. Still, of all international migrants, only a tiny proportion are students, of whom 60 percent are studying in just six countries. In addition, two-fifths of all mobile students come from just 15 countries, including countries where education resources are tapped and out-migration is much higher than inbound student (or other) migration.
In 2008-09, Canada ranked 8th as a higher-education destination for international students (enrolments), after China and Japan. Canada hosts a relatively diverse student population (both in terms of country of origin and program) with the majority coming from China, the United States, France, India and Korea.
Source: Alison Kennedy, Unesco Institute for Statistics. "How diverse are mobile student populations in host countries?"
As noted above, the number and share of international students has grown considerably in the last ten years. Catrina Tapley, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister for Strategic and Program Policy at Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), remarked on the rapid growth in international students coming to Canada in her presentation on international students and the link to permanent residency. She pointed to 7 percent growth in 2009, with 70 percent coming from the top 10 source countries. She also pointed to early trends suggesting further enrolment increases in 2010 and continued growth in student to immigrant transitions.
For many students, the choice to study abroad is often part of a “deliberate immigration strategy that is often facilitated by the immigration policies of the host country” (Gribble 2008). As the global competition for skilled migrants and international students rises, Canada has looked to other countries to learn from and to design strategic immigration policies for recruiting and retaining international students as permanent migrants.
Competitor countries such as New Zealand and Australia have formal immigration provisions to retain international students as permanent residents through direct channels. These programs have had tremendous take-up, but there have been systemic problems that have required remedial steps, in addition to immigration and education reforms. As noted by Lesleyanne Hawthorne, Associate Dean International at the University of Melbourne (2010), “two-step immigration for international students coincided with development of perverse educational incentives,” which led some higher education providers and recruiters to cater to immigration demands, with some new schools, programs and recruitment strategies compromising academic and ethical standards.
International Students as Migrants in Canada Attracting international students to Canada is a priority for all levels of government and educational institutions. International students contribute approximately C$6.5 billion (US$6.4 billion) to the Canadian economy (Economic Impact of International Student in Canada, July 2009). And while the race for international students is partially driven by the economic gains for institutions and the economy at large, international students also bring skills, innovation and diversification.
According to Binod Khadria, Professor of Economics and Director of International Migration and Diaspora Studies Program, Jawaharlal Nehru University, students are an “embodiment of newer technology.” He speaks to the desire sending nations have to work with them in a variety of ways, not simply supporting return migration. Ted Hewitt, Vice-President Research and International, University of Western Ontario echoed this sentiment, emphasizing how students are global innovators with global connections that can help change the world.
As part of a presentation on migration trends to British Columbia, Philip Steenkamp, the British Columbia Deputy Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development, pointed out that international students are diversifying campuses and generating significant returns in Canada. In discussing the labour market, Steenkamp noted how the changing structure of the economy is leading to “people without jobs and jobs without people,” a situation that is being mitigated somewhat through skilled migration.
According to Tapley from CIC, students are currently an immigration priority and there has been a shift in thinking from “temporary residents, to a pool of highly qualified permanent residents.” In Canada, where immigration will soon account for all net population growth, and where 77 percent of new jobs will require a post-secondary education (currently, only 66 percent of the population have this level), new immigration strategies that attempt to leverage and harness the skills of international students (among others) are being implemented.
"As labour market/talent acquisition concerns have loomed larger in public policy, international student 'migration' has engaged institutions as actors in the broader immigration regime. Pathways from education to work to permanent residency improve Canada's competitiveness as an education destination."
Karen McBride, President, Canadian Bureau for International Education. At the same time, Canada underutilizes immigrants’ skills and qualifications in its labour market. As Naomi Alboim, Maytree Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the School of Policy Studies, Queen's University, noted, immigration policy shifts in Canada have been made with student migration in mind, based on the assumption that international students will be able to avoid the employment barriers regularly encountered by highly skilled immigrants, by virtue of their Canadian education, language skills and work experience.
While there is currently no conclusive evidence, preliminary research does suggest that former international student status leads to better economic outcomes – at least in the short-run (Sweetman & Warman, 2009). According to Tapley, skilled workers (skilled immigrants) with previous Canadian education and work experience earn approximately C$12,000 more per year than skilled workers without work or educational experience in Canada.
For international students, there are a number of important factors behind the decision to remain in Canada. In a recent Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE) survey of international students in Canada, half of surveyed university students and three-quarters of college students choose Canada as a study destination because of post-graduate work opportunities (2009: 19), and 51 percent of university students and 57 percent of college students planned to pursue permanent residency (2009: 16). Since CIC introduced new immigration policies, as outlined in the 2008 WENR article Canada: Changing Employment and Visa Regulations to Improve the Recruitment of International Students, international students can make an easier transition to permanent residency through the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP). As a result, post-secondary institutions are now key actors in Canada’s immigration system.
For the CEC – the federal program most directly targeting international students’ transition to permanent residency – there has been an 86 percent approval rate for 2010 applicants under the student stream. And while the volume of CEC applications has been lower than originally expected – possibly due to students using PNPs as they may be easier to negotiate, according to Alboim – the federal government projects granting permanent residency to up to 25,000 migrants a year (for both international students and temporary foreign workers) by 2014. For students, Alboim suggests, the decision matrix on study destination may well be changing:
From :
Which educational program do I want to pursue?
Which PSE institutions offer the best program for
me? Where will I get in? To :
Which program in which institution in which
province will give me the best chance of getting
quick permanent residence in Canada? Canada’s immigration policy changes vis-a vis international students may significantly alter the flows, characteristics and intentions of international students coming to Canada. According to Jian Su, Counsellor at the New Centre for International Experiences at the University of Toronto, international students have shown tremendous interest in acquiring permanent residence, with “more students coming with the intention of staying.” She also notes the effects on the institution, and the interaction between immigration and education as some students are switching programs for better chances of remaining in Canada after graduation. As Khadria’s presentation highlighted, the speed of immigration policy changes in many destination countries can greatly affect students. Indeed the way that these policies can be “open and shut” leaves many students (and other migrants) in difficult situations with their education, careers, and plans compromised.
Lessons to Learn Canada’s history as a relatively welcoming country for immigrants, and the overall political and social support for them, makes for an easier political climate to promote the recruitment and retention of international students as permanent migrants. As outlined in the national case study presentations of the WES symposium, the United States and the United Kingdom (and the European Union more generally) have a social and political climate that might be considered less immigrant friendly – at times directed towards particular national or ethnic communities or based on certain migrant groups as being synonymous with all immigration. Unlike Canada, targeting the recruitment of any immigrant category directly is inevitably met with complicated social and political reactions.
Speaking about the U.S. experience with international students as skilled migrants, Stephen Dunnett, Vice Provost for International Education at the State University of New York, Buffalo and WES Board Member, noted how the country has never had a strategic or comprehensive plan to attract global talent and how it has been losing its market share to other countries. Dunnett stressed how the United States needs to attract international students to the STEM fields, but how the immigration system does not support this effectively – noting that the caps on skilled immigrant H1-B visas are based on broad national employment statistics, rather than sector specific ones. Dunnett suggests that Canada is way ahead of the United States with regards to strategic immigration policies to attract and retain skilled migrants, but also noted the difficult political climate around immigration in the United States and the resulting stagnancies in immigration policies for highly skilled migrants.
Political tensions in the United States are comparatively minimal when compared to Europe where, on the one hand, anti-immigrant politics and sentiment abound, and on the other, there is a clearly articulated need for skilled labour and student migrants. However, in many European Union (E.U.) countries, immigration policies tend to be outdated and designed for low-skilled guest worker programs – which are no longer the type (nor flow) of the actual migrants, many of whom are highly skilled. As a result, there is broad consensus on the need for reform in immigration policy across the region, though the political climate makes these developments quite difficult.
Strategies to attract international students to E.U. member countries and to compete with the rest of the world have focused on European competitiveness and developing an E.U. education brand, in part by simplifying the recognition of qualifications and also by developing a labour immigration strategy.
According to Hans de Wit, Professor of Internationalisation at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, University of Applied Sciences and WES Board Member, the Bologna Process and Lisbon Agenda have been the driving force for international student mobility changes in Europe as “the challenge for European higher education 10 years ago was how to consolidate and enhance the quality, and, for most, increase excellence.”
In the United Kingdom, Neil Kemp, Visiting Fellow from the Institute of Education, University of London described the main drivers attracting international students as quality of education (31%) and future job prospects (30%), with the desire to immigrate being less of a motive for international students. High standards and quality education therefore remain crucial to E.U. countries, especially as they compete amongst each other for international students who have relative ease of movement and rights within the E.U. In the United Kingdom, Kemp noted how universities and policymakers have “gone overboard” on student recruitment and international tuition fee hikes, suggesting that recent growth is completely unsustainable. While international students contribute 25 billion pounds annually to the British economy, rising tuition fees are affecting, and possibly displacing, E.U. enrolments.
Differentiating between tuition fees for domestic students and international students is a practise that, in Europe, started in the U.K., and is now being replicated in many E.U. countries. In addition, countries and institutions across the E.U. are making changes, such as allowing different language of instruction within higher education institutions, to attract more international students.
For the Netherlands, more important than recruiting large numbers of international students, is supporting the migration of high-quality students at the graduate level to study, research, and potentially remain. The government recently introduced full-tuition fees for non-E.U. students, and created scholarships and partnerships to better recruit top students from abroad. In addition, the pathway to immigration for talented students is encouraged under programs that allow them to apply for work permits to remain in the Netherlands for two years after graduation to look for a relevant job. However, as de Wit noted, there are major issues with immigrant children and with current immigrants not succeeding in the Netherlands. And while government and society should be working to remedy these problems, the issues for existing immigrants are masked by the recruitment of new skilled student migrants becoming immigrants.
Similarly in Canada, many are concerned about the disinvestment in supports to current immigrants and the offloading of services previously provided by the state onto post-secondary institutions, employers, private providers and the skilled migrants themselves.
Challenges Ahead, Ways Forward Supporting the settlement and integration of international students is essential to sustain not only their academic success, but also their decision to remain permanently in Canada, and their ability to quickly and successfully integrate into the labour market and society at large.
As has been seen in Australia, international students who stay in the country as permanent residents earn less on average and report lower levels of job satisfaction than both those who are Australian born and those selected offshore. It is therefore critical that supports for those transitioning to permanent residency are put in place, including financial resources (loans are a big challenge for students and those with temporary status). However, under the current settlement model, international students, as well as temporary workers, are not eligible for many settlement services available to immigrants until they are actually granted (or approved in principle for) permanent residence.
In Canada, proper support for the settlement and integration of international students into the labour market as they transition to become permanent residents is critical to their personal success, actual retention and the overall success of the economy through proper use of training, skills and labour.
Another concern for Canada, as learned from the experiences of other nations, is the importance of ensuring and maintaining quality assurance measures for higher education institutions. During the symposium, participants emphasized the importance of mitigating potential issues as immigration and education become increasingly interconnected. For this, new partnerships will be required between institutions, governments, employers, and settlement organizations to ensure both successful education and integration outcomes. In Canada, the Student Partners Program is a good example of how this can begin to take place. Launched in 2009 as a pilot with 20 colleges, today it is a regular program that has expanded to include 39 colleges. They work together to increase approval rates for international students destined to participating colleges, while ensuring program integrity and minimizing immigration violations. In 2009, 79 percent of study permits were approved compared to 35 percent for 2008 applicants.
The direct confluence of international migration and higher education through labour-driven immigration policies has resulted in a number of unique successes and challenges for different jurisdictions. For Canada, how to best respond to these changes, opportunities and challenges, while remaining globally competitive and supporting migrants’ transition and success, is critical to a sustainable and successful internationalization and immigration strategy.
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