Recent Statistics Canada report outlines the performance of international students at Canadian institutions.

Before coronavirus forced studying online, international students were enrolling in post-secondaries at Canada at three times the rate of national students. International students driving growth in Canada.

A recent Statistics Canada report examines pupil enrolment pre-pandemic as a means to evaluate the coronavirus effect on students. Researchers used the 2018/2019 academic year as the benchmark to measure the way enrolment and graduation has been changed, especially for international students.

That year, over 2.1 million pupils were registered at Canadian universities and colleges, up 1.8 percent in the 2017 academic session. This profit was entirely as a result of international student enrolment, which went up 16.2 percent. That exact same year, enrolment by national students decreased 0.5 per cent.

The majority of these enrolments were in formal programs, just 8.4 percent were in courses outside a formal program such as continuing education or private interest.

International student enrolments more than triple within a decade

Between the 2008 and 2018 academic years, enrolments for international students grew from up of 101,000 to over 318,000. Canadian pupil enrolments in formal programs grew 10.9 per cent in the same period.

This resulted in the proportion of international students at Canadian post-secondaries rising from 6.4 percent to 16.2 percent, and represents 57.2 percent of the whole increase in all application enrolments.

STEM enrolments grow, humanities decrease but not for international students

Education systems evolve with the requirements of the labor market. Although these programs accounted for 5 per cent of all enrolments in 2018, expansion in this field was the most powerful over a 10-year period.

In Canada’s labour market, jobs connected with digital economy grew 37 percent, exceeding the growth rate of the entire market which was 8.6 percent between 2010 and 2017.

Even though humanities accounted for 11 per cent of enrolments in 2018, these programs saw the biggest decrease in enrolments. Within a 10-year period, the entire number of pupils enrolled in those programs dropped 19.4 percent. Statistics Canada also found that arts and humanities graduates were more inclined to be overqualified within their occupations than their peers.

There were differences in humanities enrolment rates when comparing international and national students. Enrolments at humanities decreased 25.2 percent for Canadian students, but increased 106.1 percent for international students. The increase in international student enrolments could be due to initiatives meant to attract them to study in Canada to responds to labor market requirements in their home country.

Growth in business, management, and public administration programs lead by international students

International students drove expansion in enrolments in business, management and public administration programs within the 10 year period leading up to 2018. The percentage of pupils studying in these areas climbed more than 200 per cent, whereas Canadian student enrolment only grew about 7.7 percent.

Canadian students were more likely to function in health and related fields, with 15.2 per cent of Canadian enrolments picking those fields. Just 5.1 percent of all international students picked these areas in 2018.

ο Reference taken from CIC News