News for International Educators across Canada - April 23, 2021

It's not easy putting on a virtual conference. Languages Canada went from its lavish three-day in-person event in Vancouver last year to a modest two-hour session this week. The LC team delivered an informative session to help its struggling 190 member programs.

The attendees, representatives of the country's English and French schools, took it in stride. In the Zoom chat box, they thanked everyone for putting on the event. And they threw in a few friendly questions: “Where are the free drink tickets?” asked one person. “When does the band start?” posed another.

Languages Canada is predicting a bumpy road as Canada and the world try to emerge from the pandemic. Read more below about how the industry is expecting a full recovery only in 2023.

Next up on the event list is the Canadian Association of Public Schools - International, which is holding its virtual conference on May 3-5.

I know that I personally miss attending the in-person conferences and look forward to getting back to normal, hopefully next year.

Stay safe!

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Languages Canada believes the flow of international students to the country will only fully resume in 2023, the language-industry organization told members at its virtual conference this week.

Executive Director Gonzalo Peralta broke the bad news as the language sector continues to struggle through the pandemic, with student numbers down 56 percent in 2020 compared with the previous year. 

“It has been a very, very bad year,” said Cath D’Amico, president of the organization and representative of Trent University’s English-language program. “Members are struggling to stay afloat and facing challenges to survive.”

While language programs associated with public colleges and universities have been hit hard, private schools have been devastated. Private program student numbers are down 61 percent, compared to 39 percent for the public sector. Two schools, Inlingua Vancouver and GV Vancouver, closed permanently last year.

Patrik Pavlacic, of the market research firm Bonard, shared some sobering data from a recent survey of 205 overseas agents and 97 Canadian language programs. He told the attendees that the poll indicated that next year student numbers would only reach 55 percent of the 2019 peak. He predicted a full recovery in 2023.

Pavlacic said that enrollments in the UK were even worse, with a 79 percent fall in language student numbers.

The good news for Canadian programs: Bonard’s survey of agents found that Canada will be the top choice for international students post-pandemic. About 31 percent of agents said Canada will be the preferred option, with 20 percent choosing the UK and 14 percent the USA. Australia and New Zealand, which have both acted aggressively to block students and other travelers from coming during covid, were in the single digits.

“This positions Canada in a very attractive spot post-pandemic,” Pavlacic told the attendees.

In the survey of agents, Bonard found that entry conditions will be very important to students. To improve access, Canada should remove hotel quarantine requirements, shorten visa processing times and communicate covid restrictions better, Pavlacic said.

Of course, easier entry depends on Canada’s ability to defeat Covid-19. The virus continues to rage, with 6,720 new cases on Wednesday alone. Only 19 percent of the population has received one vaccine dose, compared with more than half of Americans. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised that all adults will be vaccinated by the end of September.

Many Canadian provinces have already indicated that they are willing to vaccinate international students as they become eligible based on their age. Peralta heralded this as a positive step to welcome new students to the country.

Economist Dr. Roslyn Kunin told the conference that language students have a big impact on the Canadian economy, spending $1.8 billion in 2019. She predicted a strong recovery in 2023, but cautioned that worldwide competition for international students will be fierce.

Despite the contribution that language programs make to the Canadian economy, Peralta said that Languages Canada has struggled to convince the federal government to provide sector-specific financial support. Canadian programs have been able to take advantage of covid relief assistance available to organizations in all sectors. 

The Bonard survey of Languages Canada programs found that 54 percent would close within six months without existing federal financial subsidies.

International educators across Canada are invited to join us for this webinar on May 19 about mitigating risks as the world begins to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. We will discuss how lessons learned in the first year will better prepare us for reopening.

During this 2-hour presentation and 30-minute question and answer session, Presenter Dave Bird will explain what organizations can do to welcome back and keep safe international students, through minimizing risks to students, staff and the institution itself.

Here are some of the questions we'll be addressing:

This session is for K-12, post-secondary and language programs.

The cost is just $60 plus tax. The deadline to register is May 7. Register now to save your spot and avoid disappointment.

ESQ Educational Services is the Canadian representative for the iTEP suite of tests, used by international education programs worldwide.

iTEP offers tests for:

Best of all, these tests can be administered right at your institution or at the candidate's home via secure remote proctoring. Get in touch to learn more and take advantage of our free trial.