In its recently published national budget for 2019/2020, the Canadian government is committed to allocate significant funding to the development of a new International Education Strategy, which was already announced in the 2018 Fall Economic Statement. The government’s key objectives are:

• to foster soft skills, e.g. adaptability, linguistic and intercultural skills, among young Canadians, by promoting international experiences, such as travelling, studying and working overseas; and,
• to support Canada’s international trade and to increase global ties, by assigning to the ministries ‘Global Affairs Canada’ and ‘Employment and Social Development Canada’ the task of developing the new strategy.

The proposed federal grants amount to almost EUR 100 million (CAD 147.9 million) to be invested over five years, starting in 2019/2020, and almost EUR 5 million (CAD 8 million) per year ongoing.

These funds will be mainly used for:

• developing an outbound student mobility pilot program, to support Canadian post-secondary students to acquire the necessary skills to succeed in a global economy;
• promoting Canadian educational institutions as top-quality study destinations, to ensure that foreign students continue to choose Canada as their first choice to study abroad.

This new Strategy will be implemented in concert with Canadian provinces and territories, as well as colleges, polytechnics and university institutions and other key partners.

Government of Canada – Budget 2019

Government of Canada – Global Affairs