Increased international students at BC universities: what does this mean for domestic students?

Within a proudly multicultural province such as BC, it isn't shocking that Vancouver has become a hub for families immigrating from all over the globe, looking to build a better life in North America. As more and more people move to Canada with their families in tow, immigrant parents understand the importance of a post-secondary education in their children's future within Canada's highly competitive work force.

While an increase in the share of international students within post secondary institutions undoubtedly means increased revenue for BC, this increase is heavily concentrated between two institutions: SFU and UBC. Is this increase a good thing or a bad thing, and what does this mean for BC's domestic students?

Below is a visual of the share of international student's enrolled in all BC post secondary institutions in the Southwest region from academic years 2008 through 2013 as gathered by Statscan.


While there has been a steady increase in the share of international students over the five year period, the share of domestic students at BC institutions has seen no virtual change other than a minimal decrease over the same time period.

Feng Hou is researcher for Statscan, as well as a sociology professor at the University of Victoria. In February, the Vancouver Sun published an article called "Why Immigrant students prevail at Canadian Universities", that references a study of the share of international students at major BC universities in detail.

Hou says that a large factor of the influx of international post-secondary students in BC is revenue:

"Canadian federal government, provincial governments and universities have been aggressively recruiting foreign students in order to bring in much needed revenues and more fully use the under-utilized educational resources existed in Canadian institutions."

Undoubtedly this has been an effective tactic for revenue increases, as international students pay upwards of three times what domestic students pay in tuition fees to attend BC's most prestigious institutions. As well, the population of students studying in Canada who immigrated from overseas, or whose parents immigrated from overseas is centralized to a handful of specific countries.

In regards to the main countries Vancouver is receiving international students from, Hou says "in recent years, the main source countries are China, India, and Korea", and that Vancouver and Toronto are among the most popular choices for students coming to study. Hou says there are a few reasons for this:

"First, the universities are prestigious, large, and well-known in the world. Second,most foreign students, like recent immigrants, came from large metropolis [cities] in their home countries and prefer to live in large metropolitan areas once they come Canada."

Hou's studies have also found that another thing that makes Vancouver (and Toronto) so attractive to students is that "[they] have a large Asian immigrant population and well-developed ethnic business and social networks. This certainly is also an important attraction".

Cultural attitudes from these main source countries play into the interest toward well-developed central cities like Vancouver and Toronto. The University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University are globally recognized institutions, which contributes to their popularity. As front-running institutions in BC, SFU and UBC have seen the largest increase in the share of international students, more than doubling the share of international students at smaller institutions such as Emily Carr and the Justice Institute of BC.
 

What does this increasing share of international students mean for domestic students applying to SFU and UBC? Likely, more competition. The share of domestic students over the 2008-2013 time period at Southwestern institutions has remained virtually unchanged. Fluctuating between 95% in 2008 and 92% in 2013, the share of domestic students has actually shown small a decrease over the 5 year period.

Stephen Lee, 30, graduated from SFU's Communications program in October of this year. After attending Kwantlen Polytechnic University for two years, he says that his at the time girlfriend convinced him that SFU would be a better choice for his future.

Recent graduate Stephen Lee, 30. Photo by: Alycia Sundar

Having moved to Canada from China in 2004, Lee is considered a domestic student; despite this fact, he agrees that cultural pressures play largely into the decision process for immigrant students planning their post secondary career.

"Chinese people, we have this kind of thinking, it doesn’t matter what kind of degree you study, but it really matters which school you go to, because when you apply [for] a job, they look at your school, not how [well] you did in school, and not what your major was in school," says Lee.

This cultural perception is likely a main factor behind the increasing share of international students within BC, and moreover the concentration of international students being restricted heavily between SFU and UBC.

Though there is more competition for students to get into BC universities, Hou notes that there are certainly positives to increased international students at BC universities. He says "the increased enrolment of foreign students and the associated revenues allow a school to keep more programs running and possibly expand their strong programs, to hire more and high-caliber professors".This increase will positively affect domestic students in regards to the quality of their education.

Another positive aspect is that "foreign students also bring different cultures and insights – and these indirect benefits are also important" says Hou. These foreign students will contribute to Canada's work force and improve Canadian economy in the long run.

There might be increased competition in certain faculties, Hou says that man immigrant students pursue "professional fields including business, commerce, accounting," they often enrol in fields that domestic students tend to avoid such as as "engineering, computer and information technology, economics, statistics, bio-sciences" and so on. However, there are many benefits to increased international students in BC, and ultimately domestic students still account for over 90% of the post-secondary population in BC.