Summer 2004

Foreign Students

Source Countries

Canada took in 9,840 foreign students in the first quarter (see table 8), a 17% drop over the same quarter of 2003. South Korea continued to be Canada’s largest source of foreign students, accounting for 38% of entrants, or 3,739 students. This represented a 1% decline over the same quarter of 2003. Japan ranked second, sending 1,034 students.

Much of the overall decline in student numbers reflected a slowing trend in the number of student applicants from the People’s Republic of China. For the first time since the second quarter of 2002, China ranked as neither the first nor the second country of origin for Canada’s foreign student flows. China sent 1,019 foreign students to Canada in the first quarter, representing a decline of 57% over the same quarter of 2003. The decline in the number of Chinese students was evident at all levels of study, but the largest percentage declines was at the primary and secondary levels (from 422 to 115 students) and the trade level (from 106 to 9 students). Declines were larger for the university level (from 759 to 433) and the other post-secondary level (from 1,031 to 417).

Canada is not unique in observing declining numbers of Chinese student applicants recently. Some of Canada’s competitors in the educational field have noted the same phenomenon. It remains unclear whether this slowdown is a short- or a long-term trend. The specific factors that have led to the Chinese decline are also not well understood. Domestic changes in China may be an important contributing factor. For example, the number of private education providers in China has expanded significantly in recent years. This change and others have made higher education more accessible within China and may have reduced the demand for study abroad.

Level of Study

All levels of study reflected a quarterly decline over the same period in 2003 (see table 7). The other post-secondary level of study declined at the greatest rate (27%), bringing in 531 fewer students in the first quarter. The smallest decline (8%) occurred at the trade level, which accounted for 236 fewer students.

Chart 3: Foreign Students from China by Level of Study:
Q1 2003 and Q1 2004

Destination

Student numbers in the first quarter (see table 9) declined in all provinces but one (New Brunswick). Ontario and British Columbia accounted for almost three-quarters of student entrants. Ontario saw a steeper decline in foreign student numbers than British Columbia. While the two provinces took in about the same number of students in the first quarter of 2003 (just over 4,300 students to each province), a year later, Ontario took in 3,337 and British Columbia, 3,867. This represented a quarterly decline of 23% for Ontario and 12% for British Columbia. British Columbia therefore easily ranked as the leading destination for new foreign students for this quarter.

Smaller flows from China affected both Ontario and British Columbia. China sent 486 fewer students to B.C., accounting for almost all of B.C.’s quarterly decline. Some 696 fewer Chinese students arrived in Ontario. But the Chinese numbers can only account for part of Ontario’s decline of over 1,000 students. Other countries that contributed to the decline included South Korea, Japan and Vietnam. At present, it is not clear whether there are factors unique to Ontario that may account for declines from a greater number of countries.

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