BC Introduces International Student Regulations to Comply with Federal Plan

Source: BC News Release | February 6, 2014

The British Columbia government has announced new requirements that require PSE institutions accepting international students in study programs of longer than 6 months to have BC’s Education Quality Assurance (EQA) designation. A BC news release says the requirement will be phased in over the next 18 months to give institutions time to acquire the designation, which will entail “establishing quality assurance standards—including having a transparent tuition refund policy.” The regulations are in response to the federal government’s new program within the International Education Strategy, which requires all provinces and territories to develop a list of PSE institutions eligible to host international students for study programs of longer than 6 months.

TCS Insights: BC aims to assure students coming to Canada from abroad that their educational facilities are of high quality by forcing them to earn this designation. Institutions will have to meet various standards in areas such as programs and tuition refund policy so international students will be better informed when choosing where to study.