A delegation of Canadian university presidents is in India, forging ties with institutions there and promoting their own as prime destinations for students looking to study abroad.
The weeklong trip is the latest in a series of efforts to tap into India’s education sector and to brand Canada as an education destination for both researchers and students.
Currently, Canada attracts about 2,800 Indian students, far less than the United States and Australia.
“The competition is pretty tight around the world,” acknowledged Canada’s minister of state for science and technology, Gary Goodyear, who was with the Canadian delegation.
In a phone call with reporters from New Delhi on Tuesday, Goodyear said he’s confident Canada has an edge over other countries that are eager to crack into India’s lucrative education sector and that Canada is “in the driver’s seat at this time.”
Neither University of Ottawa president Allan Rock or Roseann Runte, the president of Carleton University, are with the delegation.
Runte said she has been to India twice before on official university business and said she declined the AUCC’s invitation.
Part of the current trip is aimed at boosting international student recruitment and meeting university officials, including the chancellor of India’s Pune University, but Runte said Carleton’s got that covered.
“I’ve already met with him and he’s already come here and we already have an exchange agreement and it’s working,” she said.
Carleton established the Canada-India Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology, Trade and Policy last year, which has forged links with some 15 Indian universities, she added.
The centre facilitates a number of activities, such as exchanges for students and faculty members and networking opportunities for Canadian companies working in India and for Indian companies working in Canada.
It’s also in the process of developing joint degree programs for Carleton and partner schools in India.
Carleton students can also apply for internships in India in order to gain valuable international experience.
“In a global market, that will really help those students,” Runte said.
She added Carleton has more students on exchange in India than any other Ontario university.
“We’re ahead of our time,” Runte said. “We have made wonderful, enriching links with our colleagues in India.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs reports that international students contributed an estimated $6.5 billion to the Canadian economy in 2008 through tuition fees, living expenses and other spending.
There were about 85,000 foreign students living in Canada in 2009, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Meagan Fitzpatrick writes for Postmedia News. Matthew Pearson writes for the Citizen.