Canada Becomes the Most Attractive Destination for International Students

Canada has become the most favorite study destination for international students. But why?

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. It has ten provinces and is the second-largest country in the world in terms of area.

Why international students choose it as the most famous study destination around the globe? In a typical year, thousands of international students come to Canada to study. But, Covid 19 makes 2020 exceptional for migration.

Canada’s reputation has been boosted by its government’s response to the epidemic. In May 2020 Navitas surveyed its global agent network to explore how COVID-19 was changing the fortunes of international study destinations. Findings from that initial survey showed that Canada’s reputation as a study destination had been enhanced by its government’s handling of the pandemic. At that time, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada topped the pack. So far, those entering Canada are subject to a mandatory 14-days quarantine period. International students are bound by this mandatory period. However, international students should consult with their school in Canada, as a component of the school’s Covid 19 preparation project has identified the ability to support parts of the school’s student quarantine experience.

Canada issued many residence permits for study permits during the last five years. In 2015 Canada issued 352,365 study permits, in 2016 almost 410,690, in 2017 about 491,135 in 2018 about 568,130 and in 2019 almost 642,480 (stats. courtesy canada.ca).

Canada’s Immigration Minister “Marco Mendicino” provided upgoing information for international students through a webinar hosted by the International Council of Canada. He said Canada has already issued 56,000 first-stage approvals for study permit applications. He also mentioned that the federal government continues to work with designated learning institutions (colleges and universities) to make sure how to physically welcome international students to the campus during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The minister also tweeted on 22 September by saying, “International students enrich our culture & communities, and contribute $22B to Canada’s economy.” Canada has improved its position overall but is now competing with the UK against Australia and New Zealand.

The good news is that the Government of Canada has announced that international students will be able to enter Canada from October 20. There is no restriction on where the students are traveling from and when their study permission was granted. According to the government of Canada, Ultimately, it is up to each province to approve COVID-19 preparation plans for each institution.

Canadians believe that they have been more interested in becoming a destination for education than any other country, and it is good for Canadians that 60% of survey agents agree with them. The potential dilemma of the uncertainty profession is however likely to lead to confusing diversity of perspectives, and there is also the risk that changes in preparation plans will inadvertently allow community transmission (even Melbourne’s Safe Quarantine is allowed in the supervised hotel for community transmission). While this is good news for the sector, it remains to be seen whether other barriers to accessing English test centers and visa application centers will continue to reduce the number of international students.

Canada’s consistent performance is commendable. On the scale of coronavirus handling by the government to measure safety and stability. Canada is on the list of top countries in terms of openness and reception, for example, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

From 20 October 2020, international students enrolled in Canadian colleges or universities (DLI’s) will be able to travel to Canada and study on campus if their institutions have a readily available plan (approved by the government) for Covid-19. In his tweet on 2 October 2020, the Canadian immigration minister tweeted, “starting in late October, international students attending a designated learning institution that has been identified by their provincial or territorial government as having a COVID‑19 readiness plan will also be able to enter Canada”.

What are DLI’s (designated learning institutions)? 

DLIs are universities, colleges, and other educational institutions that have received approval from the federal and provincial governments to receive international students. Some DLIs have indicated an interest in welcoming international students during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, due to Canada’s travel restrictions, most international students are currently unable to travel to the country.

Canada – Study permit holders with a valid permit on December 31st by country of citizenship, 2015 – 2019
Country of Citizenship	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Afghanistan	110	130	115	100	120
Albania	175	220	280	365	535
Algeria	1,060	1,155	1,400	2,040	3,645
Andorra	5	—	—	—	5
Angola	95	115	85	75	135
Anguilla	0	0	0	0	—
Antigua and Barbuda	110	130	160	185	190
Argentina	210	260	280	340	405
Armenia	30	45	35	35	40
Aruba	0	0	0	—	—
Australia	745	710	705	710	665
Austria	165	205	185	210	200
Azerbaijan	200	215	225	220	215
Bahama Islands, The	795	1,150	1,515	1,745	1,815
Bahrain	65	65	80	80	90
Bangladesh	2,685	3,060	4,230	6,420	8,490
Barbados	320	375	435	495	555
Belarus	85	95	90	85	100
Belgium	455	550	575	540	715
Belize	115	140	170	180	185
Benin, Republic of	595	605	605	680	875
Bermuda	0	0	0	—	55
Bhutan	20	30	55	60	140
Bolivia	80	95	90	130	150
Bonaire, Sin Eustatius And Saba	0	0	0	0	—
Bosnia-Herzegovina	35	30	30	30	45
Botswana, Republic of	150	125	125	120	110
Brazil	7,450	9,315	11,795	13,770	14,560
Brunei	20	20	30	25	35
Bulgaria	80	85	80	95	100
Burkina-Faso	595	605	675	755	950
Burundi	230	320	430	545	555
Cambodia	160	120	110	120	160
Cameroon, Federal Republic of	1,790	1,865	1,840	2,010	2,525
Cape Verde Islands	5	5	10	10	10
Cayman Islands	0	0	0	0	—
Central African Republic	45	45	50	50	50
Chad, Republic of	90	110	90	95	110
Chile	500	560	660	730	745
China, People’s Republic of	117,840	131,085	139,610	141,995	141,400
Colombia	1,565	2,005	2,850	4,000	5,620
Comoros	10	15	15	20	25
Congo, Democratic Republic of the	635	885	970	1,360	2,115
Congo, People’s Republic of the	360	275	240	240	260
Costa Rica	120	130	165	175	190
Croatia	120	130	110	95	70
Cuba	95	110	110	125	140
Curacao	0	0	0	—	—
Cyprus	20	20	20	20	25
Czech Republic	160	190	200	210	200
Denmark	135	145	150	160	165
Djibouti, Republic of	35	40	50	75	80
Dominica	35	45	55	85	85
Dominican Republic	205	240	305	365	415
East Timor, Democratic Republic of	0	0	0	0	0
Ecuador	625	840	1,060	1,285	1,425
Egypt	1,530	1,830	2,180	2,515	2,865
El Salvador	245	325	410	460	485
Equatorial Guinea, Republic of	5	10	30	30	20
Eritrea	125	140	255	240	130
Estonia	25	40	30	35	20
Ethiopia	260	320	390	505	560
Fiji	30	35	35	35	35
Finland	140	160	160	160	160
France	20,205	20,705	21,845	22,540	24,045
French Guiana	0	0	0	0	—
French Polynesia	0	0	0	—	25
Gabon Republic	125	130	145	140	155
Gambia	80	95	95	105	140
Georgia	20	20	30	20	20
Germany	2,455	2,650	2,735	2,910	2,955
Ghana	1,370	1,510	1,535	1,560	2,070
Greece	255	280	310	290	300
Grenada	50	60	60	65	60
Guadeloupe	0	0	0	—	—
Guatemala	85	85	90	100	130
Guinea, Republic of	470	520	525	615	785
Guinea-Bissau	—	—	5	10	—
Guyana	185	245	310	400	510
Haiti	485	545	610	670	770
Holy See	0	0	0	0	0
Honduras	110	175	210	260	300
Hong Kong SAR	3,420	3,750	3,970	4,035	4,060
Hungary	150	155	155	145	145
Iceland	70	65	70	65	70
India	48,765	76,095	123,190	171,730	219,855
Indonesia, Republic of	1,295	1,425	1,590	1,940	2,205
Iran	4,505	5,115	7,310	10,535	14,745
Iraq	180	220	255	285	275
Ireland, Republic of	315	305	295	255	255
Israel	565	635	685	710	750
Italy	1,390	1,790	1,935	1,940	1,945
Ivory Coast, Republic of	1,035	1,210	1,375	1,615	2,095
Jamaica	1,890	2,330	2,330	2,510	3,005
Japan	7,155	7,815	7,960	8,335	8,485
Jordan	525	625	765	1,030	1,445
Kazakhstan	875	955	1,030	1,140	1,195
Kenya	865	1,165	1,445	1,850	2,110
Kiribati	0	0	0	0	0
Korea, People’s Democratic Republic of	15	10	15	15	5
Korea, Republic of	19,790	21,205	22,940	24,070	24,180
Kosovo, Republic of	50	55	40	50	55
Kuwait	230	260	280	270	320
Kyrgyzstan	30	50	70	100	105
Laos	15	20	25	25	25
Latvia	40	45	55	50	60
Lebanon	690	780	850	935	1,035
Lesotho	15	10	10	5	5
Liberia	15	20	20	10	20
Libya	1,545	1,350	1,180	970	760
Liechtenstein	0	—	5	—	—
Lithuania	60	60	70	65	65
Luxembourg	45	50	55	40	50
Macau SAR	305	310	325	350	330
Macedonia	30	45	35	30	30
Madagascar	180	245	265	285	320
Malawi	40	45	45	50	45
Malaysia	1,315	1,335	1,405	1,475	1,480
Maldives, Republic of	5	10	10	10	10
Mali, Republic of	615	685	715	800	890
Malta	5	5	—	5	10
Marshall Islands, Republic of the	—	0	0	0	—
Martinique	0	0	0	0	0
Mauritania	70	75	80	105	105
Mauritius	700	885	1,120	1,265	1,380
Mexico	5,165	5,990	6,900	7,805	8,710
Moldova	70	65	60	75	80
Monaco	5	10	5	—	5
Mongolia, People’s Republic of	230	245	255	250	270
Montenegro, Republic of	5	5	5	5	5
Morocco	2,330	2,430	2,770	3,375	4,530
Mozambique	15	20	20	25	25
Myanmar (Burma)	50	45	50	55	140
Namibia	20	25	25	25	25
Nauru	0	0	0	0	0
Nepal	270	345	530	775	1,175
Netherlands Antilles, The	0	0	0	—	—
Netherlands, The	415	460	515	550	565
Nevis	0	0	0	0	0
New Caledonia	10	10	15	10	—
New Zealand	175	195	195	200	205
Nicaragua	20	20	40	50	90
Niger, Republic of the	160	170	165	200	220
Nigeria	9,920	10,630	10,785	11,190	11,985
Northern Mariana Islands, Commonwealth of the	0	0	0	0	0
Norway	290	290	265	250	235
Oman	125	130	125	130	170
Pakistan	4,005	4,165	4,025	3,935	4,050
Palau, Republic of	0	—	—	0	—
Palestinian Authority (Gaza/West Bank)	135	170	190	225	275
Panama Canal Zone	0	0	0	0	0
Panama, Republic of	205	170	195	460	270
Papua New Guinea	10	10	10	5	5
Paraguay	35	45	45	45	40
Peru	445	530	670	855	1,050
Philippines	1,980	3,325	3,925	5,035	7,770
Poland	275	270	270	280	265
Portugal	355	390	440	410	355
Qatar	30	30	25	25	35
Reunion	0	0	0	0	—
Romania	165	145	180	220	230
Russia	2,870	2,760	2,615	2,550	2,615
Rwanda	330	510	745	995	1,265
Saint-Martin	0	0	0	—	—
Samoa, American	0	0	0	0	0
Samoa, Independent State of	0	0	—	0	0
San Marino	0	—	0	—	—
Sao Tome and Principe	5	0	—	—	0
Saudi Arabia	11,685	9,095	7,610	5,080	2,600
Senegal	1,285	1,315	1,360	1,420	1,780
Serbia, Republic of	150	170	175	170	190
Seychelles	5	5	5	10	5
Sierra Leone	35	40	45	60	60
Singapore	540	540	565	575	625
Sint-Maarten	0	0	0	—	—
Slovak Republic	165	180	180	160	155
Slovenia	30	35	35	35	30
Solomons, The	10	10	15	15	10
Somalia, Democratic Republic of	35	85	115	95	75
South Africa, Republic of	455	480	540	630	735
South Sudan, Republic of	10	15	15	15	20
Spain	1,300	1,625	1,845	2,065	2,205
Sri Lanka	525	670	805	980	1,550
St. Kitts-Nevis	60	65	80	85	90
St. Lucia	125	130	140	160	155
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	55	55	60	60	65
Stateless	120	110	145	170	190
Sudan, Democratic Republic of	95	120	200	250	300
Surinam	20	15	20	20	25
Swaziland	20	20	15	15	15
Sweden	290	295	290	295	285
Switzerland	600	635	695	700	640
Syria	280	265	295	350	405
Taiwan	3,210	3,710	4,080	4,680	5,125
Tajikistan	15	20	30	35	35
Tanzania, United Republic of	505	615	705	735	805
Thailand	1,255	1,270	1,325	1,405	1,395
Togo, Republic of	420	455	475	485	685
Tonga	—	—	—	—	0
Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of	435	435	495	600	750
Tunisia	1,750	1,805	1,860	1,965	2,210
Turkey	2,195	2,840	3,790	4,330	4,735
Turkmenistan	15	20	15	30	25
Turks and Caicos Islands	0	0	0	0	0
Tuvalu	0	0	0	0	—
Uganda	310	400	490	635	825
Ukraine	2,145	2,655	2,795	2,700	2,530
United Arab Emirates	95	70	65	70	75
United Kingdom and Overseas Territories	3,260	3,320	3,480	3,380	3,220
United States Minor Outlying Islands	0	0	0	0	—
United States of America	12,130	12,695	13,745	14,440	15,015
Uruguay	15	20	40	50	70
Uzbekistan	50	50	55	50	65
Vanuatu	—	0	0	—	—
Venezuela	1,980	1,925	1,675	1,245	880
Vietnam	4,850	7,435	13,905	20,185	21,595
Western Sahara	0	0	0	—	—
Yemen	295	300	365	425	420
Zambia	235	235	230	230	235
Zimbabwe	630	895	985	970	895
Other Countries	55	50	45	25	10
Total unique persons	352,365	410,690	491,135	568,130	642,480