India can expect more attention from Canadian universities and even the government’s officials responsible for immigration.

This, after an expert study called for dedicated effort to woo Indian students, not just as a source of foreign exchange, but also as an investment in cementing firm political, economic and cultural relationships with an emerging powerhouse.

In his study, titled ‘A New Direction for the Canada-India Relatiionship, Professor Ryan Touhey castigates the current status of Canada’s efforts to attract Indian students.

And Touhey has hard numbers to back up his complaint: Of the more than 150,000 Indian students going abroad every year for studies, less than three percent – about 4,000 – come to study at the various universities and colleges in Canada. Compare this to the 80,000 that go to the USA and 40,000 to Australia every year. Even New Zealand, which has much weaker links to India than Canada, with its more than half a million Indians spread throughout the country, gets more than 6,000 students every year.

Economic & Political Advantages

For one thing, attracting foreign students is good for the economy, as they pay much more than what locals pay for their studies.

A case in point is Australia.

Since the nineties, Australia has invested heavily in attracting Indian students with a number of annual events throughout the country. The foreign students sector itself is said to be the third largest foreign exchange earner, with annual earnings of about 12 billion dollars. And the estimated 100,000 Indian students are the second largest group next to Chinese.

The importance Australians pay for their foreign student component was very evident during the racially motivated attacks on Indian students in May of this year. Conversations were held at the highest level between officials of both countries, and recently even the Australian deputy prime minister was in India to reassure that Indian students are welcome.

But it is not just economy that benefits from having Indian students, says Prof. Touhey.

It is also about building future relationships.

India, along with China, is emerging as an economic powerhouse and nations are hurrying to build relationships with current leaders of those nations. But today’s students are future leaders and once they return to their home countries and rise up in life, they will fondly remember all things Canadian, and this will help Canada politically, says the study.

80,000 Foreign Students Come to Canada Annually

About 80,000 foreign students come to Canada every year and recently the government announced it was keen on increasing this number. At present, Canada offers a host of incentives for foreign students and these include allowing them to work here after studying and an easier path to permanent residency in the country.