New pilot seeks to diversify and expand study-abroad programs for Canadian students

The recently announced $147.9 million International Education Strategy will include funding for a five-year pilot program to support more Canadian students to participate in study abroad programs. Launching in 2020, the Outbound Student Mobility Pilot will provide $5,000-$10,000 per year to as many as 11,000 undergraduate and college students.

The pilot will be jointly administered by Universities Canada and Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), who are now embarking on a six-month information-gathering phase. Through surveys, consultations and focus-groups, they aim to collect baseline data about what their member institutions are already doing in terms of outbound mobility, as well as how Canadian students currently perceive international education. Universities Canada and CICan will also meet with employers to learn what the private sector is looking for—in terms of in-demand skills and competencies related to international business—so that the pilot can be designed to generate more employment opportunities for students. Once the data-gathering phase is completed, an RFP will be created in 2020, to which universities and colleges can respond with recommendations to support existing programs or help launch new ones.

The pilot will set limits for countries that Canadian students have traditionally tended to select—such as the US, UK, Australia, France—and instead encourage students to pursue opportunities in a broader range of countries, especially those that are already sending a lot of students to study in Canada, like China and India. The pilot will also seek to identify and deploy innovative approaches to expanding participation among universities, colleges and institutions in rural parts of Canada, where international exchanges are harder to establish. Working in consultation with Employment and Social Development Canada, Universities Canada and CICan are designing the program to foster participation from underrepresented students and those who are less likely to have the opportunity to study abroad.

Fewer Canadian students study abroad (11%) than in other highly developed countries, such as France (33%), Australia (19%) and the United States (16%). A study by the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) found that 86% of Canadian students surveyed were interested in study abroad but that 80% would require financial assistance to do so.

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