Canada needs to do more to attract foreign students as Asian nations like the Philippines and Singapore ramp up efforts to grab the lion’s share of this multi-billion dollar industry.

A Canadian program aimed at attracting international students to Canada is failing to do so, according to a recent report from Ipsos Reid.

The report, presented to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade found that “Canada is not a top-of-mind destination for foreign study for participants of any of the three countries.”

“Imagine Education in Canada”, launched by DFAIT and the Council of Ministers of Education Canada in 2008, aims to brand Canada as a top study destination for international students. The program, in its fourth year, was allocated $1 million a year for five years.

The report found that participants were unaware of Canada’s “world-class educational establishments,” apart from a few mentions of the University of Toronto.

A number of top Canadian universities took a hit to their reputation at the beginning of October when the annual Times Higher Education World University Ranking was released. The University of Toronto dropped out of the top 20 this year, from number 19 to 21, while the University of British Columbia plummeted from number 22 to 30, and McGill fell out of the top 30 to 34th place worldwide.

Statistics Canada data examining the number of international students attending university in Canada show international interest in Canadian institutions has flatlined in recent years. From 1992 to 2003, the overall percentage of international students at Canadian universities jumped nearly three percentage points, from 4.2 to 7.1 per cent. But from 2003 to 2008, that number levelled off, growing by less than half of a percentage point over six years.

Canada’s international reputation as a leading study destination can be improved, according to the report.

International students spent a total of $8-billion in Canada during 2010, up from $6.5-billion in 2008.

Countries such as India and China – Canada’s top suppliers of international students – are trying to reverse the brain drain. In 2011, India increased higher education spending by 30 per cent while the Chinese government aims to enroll 500,000 international students by 2020, twice the number it now hosts and more than it sends abroad.

Meanwhile, the Philippines, dubbed the world’s “budget English teacher:” is getting increasing attention because of the country’s relatively cheap access to education compared to other English-speaking nations.

A BBC report, written by Kate McGeown, noted the surge in the number of foreign students attracted by the country’s competitive rates for English education, which costs only a fraction of the tuition in schools in the United States or Canada.

Aside from language students, the number of foreign graduate and post-graduate students in the country is reportedly on the rise, apparently recognizing that local universities are at par with global standards.

As of October 2012, a total of 24,680 foreigners had applied for study permits, which was more than thrice the applications in 2008 totaling 7,569.

The country expects the applications for full student visas to reach at least 23,000 by the end of the year, which is over four times the 2008 figure of 5,336 applications.

This is not the first time the country has been recognized for its English proficiency.

Last April, the Philippines topped 75 other countries in the Business English Index 2012 prepared by the GlobalEnglish Corp., a California-based company that aims to advance business English among global organizations.

Only the Philippines attained a score above 7.0, a “level within range of a high proficiency that indicates an ability to take an active role in business discussions and perform relatively complex tasks,” GlobalEnglish said in its release.

In Singapore, more and more foreign universities are opening branches in Singapore as the Asian city-state pursues efforts to become a centre for higher education, a report said.

There are nearly a dozen universities with foreign branches in Singapore, and an equal number with cooperation agreements, which allow students to obtain Singaporean and international qualification when they graduate. 

Major US institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford and Duke universities are among those represented, as well as the business schools Essec and Insead. 

Singapore is not only looking to attract the best students from around Asia, it is also hoping to stop the stream of local students heading to universities in Britain, the US and Australia. 

“With the rise of Asia, we are seeing a real war for Asia’s promising young people. There is a real shortage of leaders in middle management,” says Alvin Tan, executive director of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). 

“Western companies are no longer able to serve their customers in Asia remotely, they need managers who know the market on the ground.” 

The EDB is specifically targeting universities with expertise in industries considered key to Singapore. Newcastle University is one of those favoured because it trains engineers to work in the offshore industry. 

From 2013, Yale University will operate the first joint college in its 300-year history in Singapore. Construction has already begun on the campus expected to open in 2015, but in the meantime classes in the liberal arts curriculum at the Yale-National University of Singapore College will take place in the existing NUS campus. 

The cooperation has caused concern at Yale’s home campus in New Haven, and has been criticised by some for supporting an institution in a country where freedom of assembly and association is restricted. 

Singapore’s Education Ministry said the Yale-NUS College will maintain the principles of academic freedom, with students and lecturers enjoying freedom to research, teach and express themselves in accordance with Singapore’s laws. 

Since gaining independence nearly 50 years ago, Singapore has been autocratically ruled by the party of the country’s founder Lee Kuan Yew. The party claims it must keep a tight rein on the society to maintain racial harmony. 

Three quarters of Singapore’s residents are of Chinese descent, 13% of Malaysian origin and 9% from India.

To arrest the completion from the Asian nations, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney recently announced that Canada plans to admit between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents next year for the seventh straight year, the highest sustained level in Canadian history. 

The 2013 immigration targets will accommodate the so-called Canadian Experience Class (CEC), a designation created in 2008 to allow immigrants with high-skilled work experience, including foreign students and temporary workers, to move from temporary to permanent residence status. 

The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, which represents more than 320,000 university and college students, praised the federal government for taking a "positive step" toward attracting and retaining the best and the brightest from around the world. 

"Whether international or domestic, students want to see the best possible long-term returns for investments in education, (and) improving permanent residency opportunities for international graduates is one important component of that," said Zachary Dayler, national director of the alliance. 

The organization said that among the 34 countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada has the highest stay-rate among graduating students, with one-third of international students choosing to change their visa status upon graduation to remain in Canada.  Over 80 percent do so for reasons related to employment.

– Agencies