Those forming the delegation represented St Francis Xavier University, Dalhousie, Saint Mary’s University and Acadia University, all part of the EduNova marketing consortium.

Domestic event organiser The Student World helped build interest from British students.

Mike Rosson, director of marketing and recruitment at EduNova, told The PIE News that recent education policy changes “created a unique opportunity for Nova Scotian universities to promote Nova Scotia as a study destination to UK students who may be looking for alternative options”.

He continued, “International students who want to stay in Canada to work will appreciate Canada’s postgraduate work permits which allow international students to live and work in Canada for three years after graduation.”

There are also more study options in Nova Scotia per capita than anywhere in Canada, apparently, “so there is a diverse selection of internationally recognised programmes available to prospective students”.

The mission was half-funded by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). British students choosing Canada’s east coast will be a relative novelty too – Rosson said that there are currently only 34 UK students out of a total university international student population of 6,287 students.

• Other countries are also seeing more take-up from the UK market. Lund University in Sweden revealed last week that it had seen a 15% increase in applications from Brits for studies starting in August 2013. It offers 90 Masters and five Bachelor’s programmes in English.