International students often have different interpretations of global events, enriching the classroom experiences of their Canadian counterparts in important ways.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Roseann O’Reilly Runte is the president and CEO of Runte and Associates, and the author of Canadians Who Innovate: The Trailblazers and Ideas that are Changing the World.
Somewhere between the political and economic considerations, we seem to have forgotten the cultural value of opening our classrooms to international students.
Education is intended to introduce new concepts to students, helping them to discover the secrets of science, the lessons that history can teach them about contemporary issues, and the possibilities that lie before them.
Few Canadian students venture beyond their home province, much less abroad. When we include international students in our classrooms, we bring the world to young Canadians. Classmates form lifelong bonds of trust through shared experiences in classes, labs, libraries and on the intramural basketball court on a Friday evening. They also become excellent business partners.
Opinion: Why Canadian students will pay the price for international student cuts
Meeting new people from other countries helps us discover new perspectives and gain a broader understanding of our world. International students often have different interpretations of global events, enriching the classroom experiences of their Canadian counterparts in important ways. Some international students will one day become leaders in their home countries and will have the opportunity to give back in unexpected ways; that’s a return on investment that is beyond measure.
Canada is a large country with a small population. International students enable institutions to fund and offer small, specialized programs that could not otherwise exist, enabling Canadians to study critical and emerging fields, such as medical physics or quantum computing.
Until recently, the tuition fees paid by foreign students to Canadian universities helped offset the deficits created when tuition for in-province students was frozen and institutional funding was simultaneously reduced. It is unfortunate that concerns about the growing number of immigrants in the general population, and the associated need for housing and services, combined with the fact that some institutions accepted unreasonable numbers of international students who were not well-served, led to the establishment of quotas.
The difficulty and length of time required to obtain a visa has also affected application rates, and international student numbers have fallen drastically – in some cases, below the quotas that were set. This is a blow to the excellent international reputation that Canada and Canadian postsecondary institutions have built over the years.
How Canada got immigration right for so long – and then got it very, very wrong
I strongly believe that we must immediately act to stop our international reputation from continuing to fall. Allowed to linger, it will cause long-term harm to the education of Canadian students, and to our success as an innovative nation.
Education is, of course, a provincial responsibility, and we can look to past initiatives for inspiration in the present moment. Under Mike Harris’s leadership as premier of Ontario in the 1990s, the province provided matching funds to universitites and established endowments that would provide financial support to students who were unable to afford tuition. The program was extremely successful.
Today, in the interest of attracting top international students, the provinces should consider introducing similar programs for this population. Creating even just a few scholarships offered competitively to the very best international undergraduate and college students would be widely publicized, and demonstrate that Canada welcomes the best and aims for excellence.
Together, we can support the educational foundations for new fields, enabling them to develop here while we continue to build an intellectual and cultural environment that will benefit all.
Acting immediately and with strong determination, we can remain selective and work within quotas while regaining our reputation as an international leader in research and postsecondary education.