Economic Impact of International Education in Canada Final Report
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Economic Impact of International Education in Canada Final Report Presented to: Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Roslyn Kunin & Associates, Inc. (RKA, Inc.) 3449 West 23rd Avenue Vancouver, BC V6S 1K2 Voice: (604) 736-0783 / Fax: (604) 736-0789 [email protected] http:/www.rkunin.com/ July 2009 Roslyn Kunin and Associates, Inc. Table of Contents Table of Contents ________________________________________________________ ii Executive Summary ______________________________________________________ iii 1. Introduction _________________________________________________________ 1 2. Methodology ________________________________________________________ 3 3. Literature Review_____________________________________________________ 5 4. Number of International Students in Canada _____________________________ 11 4.1. By Level of Education.....................................................................................................11 4.1.1. Long Term Students ...............................................................................................11 4.1.2. Languages Canada Short Term Students..............................................................13 4.2. By Province / Territory ....................................................................................................14 4.3. By Province / Territory and by Level of Education .........................................................16 5. Student Expenditure _________________________________________________ 19 5.1. Tuition and Other Fees...................................................................................................19 5.1.1. Long Term Students ...............................................................................................19 5.1.2. Languages Canada Short Term Students..............................................................21 5.2. Living Expenses..............................................................................................................21 5.2.1. Long Term Students ...............................................................................................21 5.2.2. Languages Canada Short Term Students..............................................................23 6. Assessing the Economic Impact of International Education in Canada________ 24 6.1. Direct Economic Impact..................................................................................................25 6.1.1. Long Term Students ...............................................................................................25 6.1.2. Languages Canada Short Term Students..............................................................27 6.2. Comparison of International Education Services in Canada with Other Export Trade ..27 7. Additional Benefit from Tourism Activities _______________________________ 33 8. Case Studies: Provincial and Non-Urban Best Practices ___________________ 36 8.1. Manitoba .........................................................................................................................36 8.2. Thompson Rivers University...........................................................................................39 9. Canada’s Performance in the Global Market______________________________ 44 10. Conclusions and Recommendations__________________________________ 47 References_____________________________________________________________ 50 Appendix I List of Persons Contacted ______________________________________ 54 Roslyn Kunin and Associates, Inc. Executive Summary Major Findings In 2008, international students in Canada spent in excess of $6.5 billion on tuition, accommodation and discretionary spending; created over 83,000 jobs; and generated more than $291 million in government revenue. Altogether there were 178,227 long-term (staying for at least six months) international students in Canada in 2008, generating more than $5.5 billion to the Canadian economy. Nearly 40 percent of that revenue came from two countries – China and South Korea. As of December 2008 there were 42,154 Chinese and 27,440 South Korean citizens in Canada undertaking a formal education. Ontario and BC hosted nearly two thirds of the international students in Canada (65,833 and 50,221 respectively) while Quebec was a distant third with only 28,010. Some institutions, such as Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, rely heavily on International Students. Approximately 12 percent of TRU’s student population is international and with an average annual growth of 18 percent since the 2004/05 school year, they could exceed both UBC and SFU in terms of per capita enrolment. The remaining expenditure of $1.0 billion was generated by shorter term students for which we have less detailed data. Therefore, this is a minimum estimate. Over all, the total amount that international students spend in Canada ($6.5 billion) is greater than our export of coniferous lumber ($5.1 billion), and even greater than our export of coal ($6.07 billion) to all other countries. When the value of educational services provided in Canada to international students is compared to the value of the more traditional goods that Canada exports, the impact for some countries is even more striking. The South Koreans, for example, spend the equivalent of 22.1% of the value of the goods they import from Canada on educational services. Similarly, we see that Saudi Arabia (14.3%), China (12.4%), India (9.3%), Taiwan (8.2%), France (8.1%) and Hong Kong (7.2%) all spend significantly for educational services when compared to the trade goods they import from Canada. In this report, Roslyn Kunin and Associates, Inc. (RKA) has used primarily secondary sources to collect information on the quantitative impact of international students in various levels of study on the Canadian economy. The RKA team has also worked extensively with international education stakeholders and organizations to collect data on different types of expenditure items and their III Roslyn Kunin and Associates, Inc. dollar amounts, and calculated total expenditure by level of study and by province/territory. Summary Table I Economic Impact of International Education Services in Canada, 2008 Total Government Expenditure GDP Employment Revenue Long-Term Students Newfoundland and Labrador $38,145,000 $27,884,000 440 $1,417,000 Prince Edward Island $12,864,000 $4,313,000 70 $416,900 Nova Scotia $168,340,000 $122,648,000 2,360 $6,599,500 New Brunswick $88,915,000 $68,175,000 1,190 $3,234,800 Quebec $1,025,042,000 $745,539,000 11,840 $72,539,300 Ontario $2,162,252,000 $1,598,644,000 24,420 $102,674,000 Manitoba $115,807,000 $82,817,000 1,500 $5,646,200 Saskatchewan $99,695,000 $70,864,000 1,260 $4,590,700 Alberta $364,584,000 $262,684,000 4,240 $8,780,700 British Columbia $1,423,161,000 $1,056,820,000 17,610 $40,872,300 Territories* $1,214,000 $370,000 10 $11,400 Sub-Total Long-Term Students $5,500,019,000 $4,040,758,000 64,940 $246,782,800 Short-Term Languages Canada $745,648,000 $509,125,000 13,210 $36,322,400 Students Additional Tourism Benefits $285,240,000 $160,730,000 5,331 $8,331,700 *Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Grand Total $6,530,907,000 $4,710,613,000 83,481 $291,436,900 Source: RKA IV Roslyn Kunin and Associates, Inc. The number of students by province is listed in Summary Table II below Summary Table II Number of Long-Term International Students in Canada, by Province / Territory, by Level of Study, 2008 Secondary Other Level of Study or Post- not All less Trade University Secondary Other Stated Levels Newfoundland and Labrador 163 51 1,060 221 20 - 1,524 Prince Edward Island 86 - 379 33 - - 521 Nova Scotia 937 130 4,421 247 64 - 5,802 New Brunswick 420 152 2,257 253 180 0 3,263 Quebec 1,636 884 21,743 3,006 733 - 28,010 Ontario 11,432 8,025 33,916 9,415 3,022 - 65,833 Manitoba 866 155 3,505 263 83 - 4,873 Saskatchewan 838 30 2,604 118 65 - 3,656 Alberta 3,818 1,872 6,877 1,526 335 - 14,433 British Columbia 14,133 7,624 18,642 7,644 2,170 - 50,221 Territories* 61 - - - - - 87 *Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Total 34,390 18,923 95,404 22,726 6,672 - 178,227 Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada The quantitative results are summarized below. • The economic benefit of international students studying in Canada is substantial. Total expenditure of long-term international students in Canada amounted to about $5.5 billion in 2008. This translates to almost $4.1 billion in GDP contribution to the Canadian economy, and represents about 7% of the GDP contributed by the overall education services sector in the Canadian economy. • International education services serving these long-term students contributed to 64,940 jobs in the labour market. This represents about 5.5% of the total number of jobs in the overall education services sector in Canada. • Those foreign students in short-term language training programs in Canada also contributed an additional $746 million per year in total spending to the Canadian economy. This is equivalent to about $509 million in GDP, 13,210 jobs, and $36 million in government revenue. V Roslyn Kunin and Associates, Inc. • In addition to capturing economic impact resulted from spending on tuition and fees and basic living expenses, we estimate that $285,240,000 per year can be attributed to additional tourism related activities, including international students and their family and friends. In the report, we have also presented two case studies which exemplify how and why international education has brought substantial economic benefits to