Canada

Canadian public schools aren’t doing enough to promote the country’s unique French/English bilingual society new research commissioned by the Canadian Association of Public Schools - International (CAPS-I) has found. The single most significant reason high school students choose to study in Canada for French language acquisition is the country’s bilingual environment it reports.

The Association of Canadian Community Colleges has undergone a name change and re-brand to better reflect the identities of the association members it says. After 42 years, the association will now be called the Colleges and Institutes Canda (CIC) but will continue to be the voice of 95% of Canada’s publicly funded colleges, institutes and polytechnics.

Canada's University of Windsor is facing a legal battle with Higher-Edge, a student recruitment firm suing the university for $24.1 million over approaches to its employees and to international students directly. Higher-Edge runs the Canadian University Application Centre in various countries.

Hundreds of staff and many language students were left in limbo following the sudden closure of the established L’Estrie Language School in Canada earlier this year. Thanks to Languages Canada all students on language training programmes were able to continue their studies elsewhere.

Canada is a good news story in international education and we are all working hard to keep it that way

ICEF has celebrated its 100th Canada Course Graduate, which is a specialised training course for education agents that wish to display sound knowledge of Canada as a study destination. A Colombian agent became the fourth from his company to complete the CCEA.

The Canadian federal government has announced CAN$10.5 million of funding for English as a Second Language (ESL) programmes for new migrants in British Columbia (BC), as part of a wider move to centralise management of services for new immigrants.

Educators in Canada have voiced opposition to tough new regulations prohibiting them from offering visa advice to international students. Only registered consultants registered will be allowed to give advice related to visa issues, with penalties reaching $100,000 or two years' imprisonment.

CEO of Languages Canada, Gonzalo Peralta, is positioning the organisation to confront the Canadian government and amend clauses in the new ISP that harms members' business. Peralta predicts up to 15,000 students will be lost because Co-op programmes can not be offered by language schools from June.

New regulations have been published in Canada confirming language teaching institutions will no longer be able to offer "co-op" programmes. Other key changes are more positive, including automatic work rights for many international students.

British Columbia in Canada is to tighten its quality requirements for post-secondary institutions and language schools. As of June 2014, all eligible institutions will be required to sign up to its Education Quality Assurance scheme (EQA), in light of upcoming changes to the International Student Programme.

Academics at Athabasca University, Canada and Qatar University are developing a mobile learning application to help employees in Qatar's oil and gas industry to learn technical English language terms used in the sector. The m-learning project has been awarded a three-year grant by the Qatar National Research Fund.

The Canadian government has announced a CAN$20 million International Education Strategy (IES) that will focus on key markets in order to double foreign student numbers, boost job growth and inject billions of dollars into the economy by 2022.

Canadian English language school ILAC has launched a dedicated online radio station for international students. The station will broadcast a mix of music, games and English language tips 24 hours a day, allowing people around the world to tune in at any time.

Peer consultation is central to a new website for students looking to study in Canada and Canadians going abroad. In addition to providing information on the application process, funding options and study programmes, iStudent Canada aims to share first-hand experience through blogs, forums and online events.