Peel away the numbers, the policy-speak, even the logic. This is an emotional issue for many Canadian families.
Last week, the federal government rolled out a plan for Canada’s postsecondary institutions to make a play for the world’s best and brightest students and researchers. Canada’s International Education Strategy aims to attract more international students and researchers to Canada, setting targets for each, while deepening the research links between Canadian and foreign educational institutions.
The strategy is great to have in hand. As a country, we have been adrift. Now, we have hard numbers and targeted recruitment regions. Provinces, and, in turn, universities, can begin the hard work of discussing, and then implementing, a more unified international strategy.
Nobody is ignorant of the fact this strategy carries important funding implications for universities. Canadian full-time undergraduate students pay an average tuition of $5,700; international students can pay more than three times that amount. That’s not all profit for universities, who need to provide support services often beyond those available for domestic students. But the money will help.
The federal government also sees a potential economic boon, and estimates increased international students could generate 86,000 new jobs in Canada and add $10 billion annually to the economy. The government also hopes that as universities graduate waves and waves of international students, some will stick and grow enterprises in Canada. (Of course, as an international transplant, let me say the immigration system needs aggressive revamping to accommodate this idea.)
We can argue the details, and probably will, but we needed a plan. Actually, we needed one a decade ago, but better late than never.
Keep in mind, as the Boomers age and retire (eventually), we don’t have the bodies to replace them in the economy. According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, within the next decade, immigration will account for 100 per cent of net workforce growth, up from 75 per cent today.
Simply stated, Canada’s future economic stability depends on growth via immigration.
This strategy makes sense when you consider the global marketplace, competition for students and the future of postsecondary funding. But supporters need to remember the strategy does not make sense to everyone. And that’s where the emotion comes in.
Current, and soon-to-be students, want to know how it will impact their access; families want to know how their kids will find a seat in this reordering.
These are not fears harboured because of anti-immigrant sentiments, or even a failed recognition that Canada needs to compete on a global scale. These are what politicians call ‘dinner table’ issues; they are occasionally illogical, but deeply personal. They are about me and my family and how we fit in. And when they go unaddressed, they fester and then harden.
The plan contains plenty for current Canadian students, but those details are difficult to see as the big question of how universities maintain access for Canadian students remains unanswered publicly. I am sure it was discussed; it just wasn’t explained.
In writing, the plan fails to address these concerns – only offering the notion the planned international student increases will be done “without displacing Canadian students.” There are zero details on how such a statement can be accomplished. Even the public rollout did little to assuage the fears. That was a missed opportunity.
Governments – as well as universities – often forget policy can be just as much about emotion as it is about logic and reason. No fault in that – that’s simply not a strength of those institutions.
But for a strategy such as this, and how its success depends on explaining its benefits to all Canadians, universities would be well advised to incorporate answers to these worries into the sales pitch from here on out.
The numbers may add up, but sometimes more explanation is required when emotions run high.