Canadian Schools Partner and Lower Language Requirements to Attract Foreign Students

Source: Globe & Mail via Academica | Aug 14, 2014

Canadian PSE institutions have begun to loosen standards around English-language proficiency in order to attract more foreign students, reports the Globe and Mail. The move is usually part of a partnership between a school board and university or college, as in the case of the Limestone District School Board in Kingston, Ontario, which has partnered with Queen’s University. Queen’s pays part of the board’s recruitment costs, and students are conditionally accepted into the arts and science faculty at Queen’s, with reduced requirements for English-language proficiency. The Toronto District School Board says it is negotiating a similar partnership with the University of Toronto, where the language proficiency exam requirement would be waived for foreign students that have attended 2 years of high school in one of the board’s schools. Many schools at both the secondary and PSE level have begun to recruit heavily in international markets to offset a declining youth demographic. The Vancouver School Board currently has more than 1,300 foreign students attending its schools, with total revenue from foreign student tuition expected to reach $20 M this upcoming year.