Canada

Growing China-and-Canada based company, CIBT Education Group, has announced plans to build a Global Education City (GEC) in downtown Vancouver, Canada. The real estate project will offer campus space for education providers, student accommodation and immigration consulting services.

Canada’s longest public service workers’ strike, which affected some 100,000 inbound international students, has come to an end after the PAFSO reached a tentative agreement with the Canadian government, late last week. The strike, which began on 2 April, has cost the Canadian economy CAN$1 billion so far while creating a backlog of visa applications for international students.

The personal stories of international students in British Columbia will take centre stage in the second annual ‘StudyinBC’ contest administered by the British Columbia Council for International Education (BCCIE) to promote study in the province. Organisers are expecting at least 100 submissions this year of photos, videos and blog entries.

Work-study programmes, known as "co-ops" in the Canadian market, face possible cancellation under proposed changes to the Canadian International Student Program (ISP). Languages Canada has launched an advocacy strategy and accreditation scheme specifically for co-op study while CIC has voiced its concerns to The PIE.

Canadian language teaching association, Languages Canada, is planning a roadshow to Turkey and Kazakhstan as the organisation believes both countries offer strong potential as a source market for English and French language schools in Canada. The Kazakhstan leg of the forthcoming trade mission will benefit from government support.

An International Post-Graduates (IPG) pilot visa scheme is to become a permanent category of British Columbia's Provincial Nominee Program, it was announced this month. The project aims to attract and retain highly skilled international postgraduates in the science and technology fields by enabling them to apply for permanent residence in Canada.

Ontario in Canada is working to establish a new target for international students given the province has reached the objective set by the federal government to attract 57,000 international students by 2015 two years early. Its new target is against a backdrop of a new provincial "head tax" on international students that began rollout in April.

At its recent Summer Seminar, the provincial membership organisation for international education in British Columbia, BCCIE, bestowed awards on its distinguished and rising stars on the international education scene – worth over CAN$2 billion to the regional economy.

A strike by Canadian foreign service officers threatens to affect student mobility into Canada as visa processing times around the world have become severely delayed. Languages Canada has confirmed that its members have felt a "definite impact" on registration numbers. Waits of up to 6 weeks are being reported.

As Canada holds out for the full unveiling of a national strategy for international education, its provinces plough their own furrows – Alberta being the latest to release its own strategy. The province’s new International Strategy aims to bolster trade in a range of areas with international education a key plank of the plan.

A leading arts & technology college in Canada has opened a new international centre which it has named in honour of benefactor Keith Segal and his family. The 8,000 square-foot facility at Niagara College will help accommodate a growing international student population.

The Canadian government has unveiled "key elements" of its long awaited international education strategy, allocating CAN$23 million to supporting the plan in the latest federal budget, despite the country’s fiscal struggles. It has also promised $42 million to speed up visa processing.

Canadian language schools are facing uncertainty over new proposals to tighten up the student visa system. One concern is a requirement that provinces decide which educators can and cannot accept foreign students, which could leave some language schools overlooked. Work-study "co-op" programmes – an important segment of the market – could also be abolished.

Continuing to expand its educational reach, the Canadian government collaborated with the Canadian Bureau for International Education for the country's first education mission to Ukraine where an overarching MoU was signed between CBIE and The Union of Rectors of Higher Educational Institutions of Ukraine.

In a bid to tackle persisting student visa delays, Canadian Immigration and Citizenship has published a list of projected processing times for different country markets, along with guidelines for students on speeding up the application process. Observers say the move will provide clarity to the market.