The economic spin-offs of International education are huge!

With more than 130,000 foreign students coming on student visas to Canada every year, Canada offers a diverse international student community. To study in Canada or any other foreign country is an adventure and a challenge, and you should give careful consideration to where you wish to study in Canada to ensure it is a positive experience. This is something you should do before you even start to apply for your student visa to Canada.

That’s why we like to call it THE QUIET GIANT … these numbers are staggering!

Overall, 56,529 student visas – needed for study periods of six months or over in Canada – were issued in 2004, down from 60,212 in 2003 A more positive note, students from France, Germany, Taiwan and the UK increased by five per cent, nine per cent, 15 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.

· One student can spend a total of $30,000 annually on tuition, living expenses, meals and recreation. This means that 1,000 students can spend $30 million annually. This is a significant influx of dollars into a community. The economic spin-offs of international education are huge!

· Although we don’t often think of education as an industry, that’s exactly what it is! And it is serious big business that can be worth billions to the economy.

· International schools are a big market. Many new or existing schools are joining in to capitalize on this booming industry.

~ Close to 700 million people world wide travel each year, and that number is expected to double to 1.4 billion people by the year 2020.