Economic impact of international education in Canada
In 2008, international students in Canada spent in excess of $6.5 billion on tuition, accommodation and discretionary spending; created over 83,000 jobs;
and generated more than $291 million in government revenue.
Altogether there were 178,227 long-term (staying for at least six months) international students in Canada in 2008, generating more than $5.5 billion to the Canadian economy.
Nearly 40 per cent of that revenue came from two countries – China and South Korea. As of December 2008 there were 42,154 Chinese and 27,440 South Korean citizens in Canada undertaking a formal education. Some institutions, such as Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, rely heavily on international students. Approximately 12 per cent of TRU’s student population is international and with an average annual growth of 18 per cent since the 2004/05 school year, they could exceed both UBC and SFU in terms of per capita enrolment.
The remaining expenditure of $1.0 billion was generated by shorter term students for which we have less detailed data. Therefore, this is a minimum estimate. Over all, the total amount that international students spend in Canada ($6.5 billion) is greater than our export of coniferous lumber ($5.1 billion), and even greater than our export of coal ($6.07 billion) to all other countries.
www.international.gc.ca/education/assets/pdfs/RKA_IntEd_Report_eng.pdf
