Canada

Canada could soon pave the way for easy access for Mexican students after Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, affirmed recently that his government would "ultimately like to see visa-free travel with Mexico". There are clear signs that a relaxing of visa rules that were imposed suddenly in 2009 because of a hike in refugees is likely.

The latest survey of business trends among language schools and education agencies by ALTO has revealed mixed business fortunes among those canvassed about their Q3 results. UK-based language schools cited a drop in business; agencies in Colombia, Turkey, Nigeria and Russia were very upbeat about Q4 (although 42% of Spanish companies took a dim view).

Canada has welcomed 400 Brazilians to its public schools through a scholarship programme aimed at increasing English language ability of those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Brazil is said to be a "steadily growing market" for public schools.

Canada is the latest country to mandate a training programme for education agencies interested in gaining certification relating to their Canadian counselling skills. The Canadian embassy in Germany officially launched the Canada course for Education Agents at the weekend on the fringes of ICEF Berlin.

Canadian universities have reported a 12% increase in international student enrolment numbers for the fall semester, in a further sign that Canada is growing as a study destination. International education already contributes CAN$8 billion in spending to the economy.

Canada has been chosen as the country with the best reputation in the world for the second year, according to a major online poll from the Reputation Institute. It also knocked the UK off the top spot in the education category.

Iranian students have been left in the lurch after the Canadian government closed its embassy in Tehran and the Iranian embassy in Ottawa last Friday. Many Iranian students fear they will be unable to obtain or renew their student visas with just weeks until the start of term.

China and Brazil have welcomed recommendations that 50,000 Canadian students a year should be studying abroad within 10 years, made by Canada's new advisory panel on international education. Only 2.2% of all full-time university students in Canada took a for-credit study abroad programme in 2006.

A new awards scheme to honour "premier" education agencies has been unveiled by a Canadian language college, which is offering a tuition scholarship to all agency applicants in its bid to build up recognition for its new endorsement of professional success.

Canada should double the number of international students studying in Canada within 10 years; to be twice the 239,000 it welcomes today, an advisory panel on international education has suggested. It has also suggested which markets should be prioritised in a bid to foster that growth.

Canadian education exports grew healthily between 2008 and 2010 from CA$6.5billion to $8billion, a government-commissioned report on the tertiary, pre-secondary and language sectors has shown. It recommends international education should be better “recognised and supported” relative to other similar sized exports.

Less than half of language schools worldwide said their enrolments grew in the second quarter of 2012 compared with last year, according to the latest language travel survey from the Association of Language Travel Organisations (ALTO). Inversely, business was up for agents with 45% reporting growth over 41%.

The Vancouver police department in British Columbia, Canada, is working with the Chinese embassy to encourage Chinese nationals studying in the city to report crime – warning them that they are prime targets for extortion...

The HE community in Ontario has been taken by surprise by budget cuts for public sector institutions enrolling international students. Ontario is cutting funding to its institutions by at least CAN$750 for every first year international student they host – and curtailing subsidies for international recruitment activities and study abroad scholarships too.

Canada's Department of Citizenship and Immigration (CIC) has announced plans to clamp down on bogus schools via amended rules for study permit holders. It is discussing policy detail with the sector and provinces. In a parallel policy change, biometrics will be required from some countries.