Only 2% of Canadian students study abroad

November 14, 2016

Most Canadian students are aware of the challenges of studying abroad according to The Globe and Mail blaming lack of money and uncertainty about receiving academic credit. An extensive study to be released Tuesday has found that only slightly more than two per cent of Canadian students took courses or did research in a foreign country in the 2015 academic year. That’s one percentage point less than in prior years and puts Canada both on the lower end of OECD countries and runs contrary to trends elsewhere. For several years, Australia, the United States and Britain have increased funding for study-abroad programs and are also working to make it possible for lower-income students to participate.

Failing to prepare students for the reality of the labour market is not an option, says Joseph Wong, the University of Toronto political science professor who recently organized a trip to South Africa for some of his students including Kourosh Houshmand to investigate how the country achieved almost universal birth registration. The full article is available here.