Ottawa, November 15, 2016: Today, at its 50th Annual Conference, CBIE released its annual report on the status of international education in Canada – A World of Learning: Canada’s Performance and Potential in International Education 2016.
The report provides a range of statistics and in-depth analysis, and includes a special report on education abroad. The special feature provides unique and important insights from 52 colleges, polytechnics and universities into how individual institutions across Canada currently track, measure and report education abroad participation. It also examines the student’s voice; in fact over 7,000 students at 35 institutions participated in CBIE’s first large scale survey on outbound mobility since 2009 on barriers and opportunities for students in education abroad.
‘International education is critical to the future of Canada and Canadians,’ said Karen McBride, President and CEO of CBIE. “We are pleased to provide policymakers, thought leaders and innovators in education with fresh new national-level data and insights on education abroad in order to advance our collective understanding of the benefits and challenges, and lend further impetus to our initiatives.’
Highlights:
- In 2015 there were 353,570 international students in Canada; a 92% increase since 2008.
- In the sample of students participating in the student survey only 2.3% of university students went abroad for a credit or not-for-credit experience in the 2014-15 academic year and only 1% of college and polytechnic students participated in education abroad in 2014-15.
- Nonetheless, there is strong interest in education abroad by students – 86% of students are interested in learning overseas.
- Nearly three quarters (71%) of respondents who went abroad say that their experience influenced their choice of career path; 65% say that it influenced their academic path.
- The most significant barrier to education abroad is financial –80% of students require financial assistance in order to participate.
- Students studied in as many as 119 countries, with the top destinations being France, the UK, the US, and Germany.
CBIE’s member institutions may download a free copy here. The report is also available for purchase here.
For more information contact:
Jacquelyn Hoult
Director, Communications
t: 613-237-4820 ext. 254 | jhoult@cbie.ca
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