Over the last decade, international student numbers have increased — by 400%.Statistics Canada shows just this — when comparing the number of international students in the 2014/2015 school year (58,125 students) with the most recently available data, the 2023/2024 school year (288,798 students), the exact increase is 396.8%.Meaning in the 2023/2024 school year, international students at Canadian public colleges accounted for 50.4% of students at these institutions. International students only accounted for 26.7% of students a decade earlier..Looking at which provinces who absorbed most of these students, Western Standard has prepared a list for you, dear reader....1. Ontario: The number one on this list might not come as a surprise to most. In recent years, from 2016 to 2021, Ontario let in a total of 584,680 immigrants, a 27% from a decade prior.In Ontario during the 2023/2024 school year, 50.2% of their province's public college students were international students.2. New Brunswick: This one might come as a bit more of a surprise for readers; however, maybe not as much so if you look at their immigration increase between 2016 and 2021, which was an increase of 179% from the decade before.In total, New Brunswick's international student population accounted for 35.5% of university students. .3. British Columbia (BC) and Manitoba: This one might come as a bit of a disappointment for readers since this is a tie. BC received a higher jump in immigration overall in the 2016 to 2021 period, an increase of 18% from the last decade, while Manitoba only increased by about 11% compared to a decade prior.Both Manitoba and BC's international student populations accounted for 28% of the university students.4. Alberta: A bit less than the four provinces mentioned earlier, Alberta experienced an overall immigration decrease between 2016 and 2021 of 0.085% from a decade earlier.However, Alberta still experienced an increase in its international student population, accounting for 25.3% of its overall student population in the 2023/2024 school year for public colleges, while a decade earlier this population was only 7%..5. Prince Edward Island: This may be a small province, but do not underestimate its population growth. From 2016 to 2021, the province experienced a 201% increase in overall immigration compared to a decade earlier.As for their international students, 18.8% of PEI's public college students were international in the 2023/2024 school year.6. Saskatchewan: The province's huge amount of land did not necessarily match the overall immigration total that PEI achieved. Between 2016 and 2021, its immigration increased by 13.4% compared to a decade earlier. In the 2023/2024 school year, international students accounted for 16.5% of Saskatchewan's public college student population, a major increase from a decade earlier, when they accounted for only 1.6%..7. Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), and Nova Scotia (NS): Now these two provinces are not exactly a tie — but they're pretty close.NL's overall immigration between 2016 and 2021 increased by 86% compared to a decade prior, while NS's immigration increased overall by 141% compared to a decade earlier.In the school year of 2023/2024, NL's international students made up 9.2% of the overall public college students population, while NS's mad up 9.8% — a decade earlier, NS's international student population was 0%.8. Quebec: comes in last on the list — with the least international students. Despite having one of Canada's largest metropolitan cities, Montreal, with a population of over 4 million.Quebec's overall immigration has not increased significantly, rising only 5%, from 2016 to 2021 compared to a decade earlier.Quebec's international student population was 6.6% of its public college students in the 2023/2024 school year. .There's also been a demographic shift in the international students coming to Canada.During the 2014/2015 school year, China had the largest number of international students, accounting for 27% of the international students at public colleges in the country.Now, China accounts for only 2% of the international student population, with India dominating, making up 59% the international student population.However, according to a CBC report, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)'s documents showed that between 2021 and 2023, college enrolment at the top 10 colleges in Ontario accounted for 30% of the overall international student permits issued in the country..Number one on that list being Conestoga College, with 30,395 international students approved in 2023.The feds recently announced, in late November, an update on the cap limiting the number of international students accepted in Canada, iwhich was introduced a year earlier.The IRCC states they expect to issue 408,000 study permits in the next year; of this number, 155,000 will be new international students.They also state this is a 7% decrease from 2025 numbers.
