Internationalization at Canadian universities: quick facts
Canada’s universities develop globally aware graduates with the internationally competitive skills suited to the jobs of today and tomorrow, while fostering globally connected research and scholarship. Results from a new survey by Universities Canada highlight how universities across the country are highly engaged in and committed to internationalization – and where there is room for improvement.
Universities Canada conducted this survey among its membership, consisting of 97 public and private not-for-profit universities and university degree-level colleges in spring and summer 2014. Universities Canada last surveyed internationalization among its member universities in 2006.
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96%priority for universities
Ninety-six percent of Canadian universities include internationalization as part of their strategic planning, more than 80% identify it as one of their top five planning priorities. This is up 5% from 2006, when the Universities Canada survey was last done.
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89%say pace of internationalization is increasing
Universities are translating this priority into action at an increasing pace: 89% say that the pace of internationalization on their campuses has accelerated during the past three years.
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81%offer international degree programs
Eighty-one percent of Canadian universities offer collaborative academic programs with international partners, a major increase over the last eight years, when this number stood at 48%. Today, 63% of those that offer such academic programs offer dual or double degree programs and 45% offer joint degree programs.
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3.1%study abroad
Only 3.1 per cent of students per year, or about 11%t of students over the course of a degree, undertake an international mobility experience (including exchanges, internships, co-ops and volunteer opportunities).
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86%identify geographic priorities
Canada’s universities are leading the way in engaging the world’s most dynamic economies. Eighty-six percent of Canadian universities identify geographic priorities for their international activities. China, Brazil, India, the United States, France, Mexico and Germany are top priority partner countries.
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97%offer international experiences
Of the 97% of Canadian universities that offer international experiences nearly all enable students to do academic coursework abroad
- 70% send students to foreign field schools
- 67% offer service opportunities or volunteer work
- 67% help students do research abroad
- 66% offer foreign work experience
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#1study-abroad destination - U.K.
Although the geographic focus of universities’ internationalization efforts leans heavily toward developing powers, students’ preferred destinations for overseas experience remain the traditional ones of English-speaking and major western European nations such as the United Kingdom, Australia, France and Germany.
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89Kinternational full-time students in Canada
In 2014, there were approximately 89,000 full-time international students enrolled in undergraduate programs on Canadian campuses (approximately 11% of full-time undergraduates), and 44,000 full-time international students in graduate programs (almost 28% of all graduate students).
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72%bring an international dimension to the classroom
Seventy-two percent of Canadian universities engage in initiatives to internationalize the curriculum; of those, 82% coordinate activities that develop students’ international perspectives; 53% integrate international students’ perspectives into classroom learning; and 44% provide professional development for faculty to help them integrate international/intercultural dimensions into their teaching.
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83%say funding a barrier to international research collaboration
Universities report the most important barrier to international research collaboration to be a lack of funding opportunities, and challenges related to different funding application cycles in these countries.
Despite this, Canadian universities collaborated and co-published with thousands of institutions in more than 180 countries around the world.
