The number of international students at Canadian universities have risen very quickly over the past few years. Many schools have turned to the strategy of enrolling international students to help bolster their coffers. Most notably universities in the maritimes who have had a tough time with declining enrolment due to a decrease in the post-secondary aged cohort due to an aging population have turned to international recruitment to bolster their enrolment numbers. As a result of China’s growing middle and upper middle classes, and the cut throat nature of their post-secondary system, China is a popular country to recruit from (as is India). There has been some criticism that the quality of the students that are being attracted is less than stellar (aren’t proficient in English, lower academic standards required for admittance, using falsified academic documents) which is understandable because if they were top students they would most likely stay and study in their own country or would be studying at a top tier Canadian school. Other students are coming apparently as a means to pave the way for immigration for their families. Even schools that are not traditionally seen as popular with international students are marketing hard to get their piece of the pie.
As I haven’t been on a university campus in decades I don’t know how valid these concerns are. I do know that if not for international students many schools would be scrambling to fill their graduate programs. Personally I like the diversity that international students add to schools. Of course with the large metropolitan areas of Canada being very multicultural in their own right, their campuses tend to be very diverse even among it’s domestic students, with many being relatively recent immigrants. Outside of the major centres however the school’s tend to be much more homogeneous, which is why being able to attract international students can be helpful in increasing their diversity. DS19 attends a very diverse high school but the universities he’s applied to are for the most part relatively non-diverse. I personally would like to see more diversity at these schools as it creates more of an atmosphere of tolerance and acceptance. Predominantly white schools with students from high socioeconomic backgrounds have a reputation for racism.