Chapter C
Access to education, participation and progression

View the most recent version.

C1. International students
C2. Transition to the labour market

C1. International students

Context

This indicator covers international students. It looks at the scope of the international mobility of students in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries by showing the proportion of international students at different levels of tertiary education. It also examines the change in the number of foreign students over time.

The liberalization of markets and recent economic developments have generated an increase in the demand for new forms of qualifications in OECD countries. To deal with this new reality, societies are increasingly counting on tertiary education to endow students with a better knowledge of the diversity of languages, societies, and cultures in order to expand their employment prospects in a globalized economy.

Growing recognition of the importance of tertiary education as a determinant of higher earnings and employability has led to a growing demand for this type of education, which some countries may find difficult to meet. Therefore, students may need to leave their home country to pursue an education abroad. They are generally well received elsewhere because they represent an additional funding source. Some institutions find this so attractive that they even develop recruitment strategies to attract foreign students.

Observations

Registering in a foreign educational institution to pursue tertiary education is one of the options available to students who want to get to know different cultures and societies and, at the same time, improve their employment prospects. Many OECDcountries have implemented policies and programs aimed at stimulating such mobility to establish cross-cultural relations and build social networks that will be valuable in the future.

In Canada,¹ about 8% of those enrolled in tertiary education were international students, a figure slightly above the average for the OECDcountries for which data on international student mobility were available (7%) (Table C.1.1, column 1). With this percentage, Canada² ranked seventh, behind Australia (20%), the United Kingdom (15%), Switzerland (14%), New Zealand (14%), Austria (12%) and Ireland (9%). In Canada, the term "international students" refers to those foreign students who are not Canadian citizens and who do not reside permanently in Canada. The "foreign students" category captures all foreign students who are not Canadian citizens, including those who are recognized as permanent residents in Canada.

Table C.1.1 Student mobility and foreign students in tertiary education, and index of change in the number of foreign students, 2000 and 2007

Some provinces have higher proportions of international students than others (Table C.1.1 and Chart C.1.1). This is particularly noticeable in British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, where 10% or more of those individuals enrolled in tertiary education were international students. Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, meanwhile, registered about half this proportion, with 6% each. With international students accounting for 8% of persons enrolled in tertiary education, Quebec and Manitoba posted proportions similar to the national average. The proportion of international students in Alberta and in Ontario, though slightly lower, was similar to the average for OECDcountries (7%).

Chart C.1.1 Percentage of international students in tertiary enrolments, 2007

Considering the efforts that some countries make to attract foreign students, it is not surprising to find that the number of foreign students varies not only from country to country, but also over time. The data in Table C.1.1 (column 10) show that between 2000 and 2007 (2006 for Canada), the number of foreign students increased at an average rate of over 30% per year in Korea and New Zealand. This number rose by 5% or less on average in Austria, Germany, the Slovak Republic, the United States, Turkey, and Belgium. In Canada, the number of foreign students who came to the country for tertiary education rose by 8.9% a year on average between 2000 and 2006. This increase placed Canada 13th among the OECD countries, slightly below the 9.5% registered in Japan.

Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia posted the strongest growth of foreign enrolments in tertiary education, with average annual increases of more than 10% between 2000 and 2006 (Table C.1.1, column 10). Most of the other provinces also registered increases, albeit less substantial ones (ranging from an average of 7.2% per year in Alberta to 9.6% in Ontario). Among all provinces and OECD countries for which data are available on changes in the number of foreign students over time, only Saskatchewan saw this number decline between 2000 and 2006 (at an average rate of 1.8% per year).

Definitions, sources and methodology

This indicator examines the proportion of international and foreign students at different levels of tertiary education. It also provides insight into the change in the number of foreign students between 2006 and 2007 (at all levels of tertiary education).

International students are those who, for the specific purpose of pursuing their education, go to a country other than their country of residence or the country in which they were previously educated. These students may be defined on the basis of either the country of which they were permanent residents or the country in which they were previously educated (regardless of their nationality). In Canada, this concept includes students who are not Canadian citizens and who do not reside permanently in Canada.³ Foreign students are those who are educated in a country for which they do not hold citizenship. In Canada, as in other countries, this concept covers all students who are not Canadian citizens (it therefore includes permanent residents).

The proportion of international students at a given education level is obtained by dividing the number of students who are not Canadian citizens and who are not permanent residents of Canada by the total number of students at that level, and multiplying this ratio by 100. The proportion of foreign students at a given education level is obtained by dividing the number of students who are not Canadian citizens by the total number of students, and multiplying this ratio by 100. The total number of students includes all individuals educated in Canada, whether they are Canadian citizens or foreign nationals, but it excludes all Canadian citizens who are educated abroad.

The data on foreign students and international students reflect the 2006/2007 academic year (2005/2006 for Canada) and are drawn from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization/Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Eurostat (UOE) collection of statistical data on education, which was carried out by the OECD in 2008. The Canadian data are drawn from Statistics Canada's Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS).⁴

Note:  The corresponding OECD indicator is C2, Who studies abroad and where?

Top of Page

C2. Transition to the labour market

Context

This indicator focuses on the transition from education to the working world. It shows the proportion of individuals between 15 and 29 years of age who are in education and not in education, and it presents the employment situation of the individuals within these two groups. It is helpful for understanding certain aspects of the transition from education to work in a changing world, where these two situations appear less and less as separate and successive stages.

In most OECD countries, education policy seeks to encourage young people to complete at least their secondary education. However, the decisions that young people make regarding their education are also influenced by economic conditions, in that they may be inclined to continue their education when the labour market is slack and to enter the labour force when the market is vibrant. Since many jobs offered on the labour market require more specialized knowledge than ever before, individuals with a low education level are often penalized.

Observations

Compared with the other OECD countries, in 2007, Canada had a relatively high proportion of 15- to 19-year-olds (20%) who were no longer pursuing an education. While this was higher than the average of 16% observed among OECD countries, Canada, along with Australia and Portugal, had the fifth highest proportion of young people no longer in education; only Turkey (55%), the United Kingdom (38%), New Zealand (27%) and Spain (22%) registered higher proportions (Chart C.2.1 and Table C.2.1, column 9). The proportion of 15- to 19-year-olds no longer in education also varied from one province to another, from 15% in Newfoundland and Labrador—a situation similar to that of the United States (15%)—to 26% in Alberta. Considering that schooling is compulsory to age 16 at a minimum in all provinces (18 in Ontario and New Brunswick), this means that a fairly large proportion of young people—larger than in most other countries—leave the education system with the bare minimum (for some even less) as a basis for further learning through their workplace or through later reconnection with the education system.

Chart C.2.1 Percentage of 15- to 19-year-olds not in education and unemployed or not in the labour force, 2007

Table C.2.1 Percentage of 15- to 29-year-old population in education and not in education, by age group and labour force status, 2007

Being unemployed or not in the labour force is more often the lot of the youngest of young people who are no longer in school; that is, the 15- to 19-year-olds compared with their elders (Table C.2.1, relative importance of columns 7 and 8 to column 9). Owing to their youth, those aged 15 to 19 will have relatively lower educational attainment than those in older age groups, which could negatively affect their employability. In Canada, among those not in education, the proportion of unemployed and not in the labour force was 37% among the 15- to 19-year-olds, but only 17% among the 25- to 29-year-olds. The 20-percentage-point gap between these two figures is a measure of the relative difficulty that the younger group may encounter in finding employment or keeping a job. A comparison with the OECD gap of 27 percentage points, indicates that although 15- to 19-year-olds in Canada are more likely than their counterparts in most OECD countries to no longer be in education, they fare better in terms of integrating into the labour market. Among the provinces, Quebec and Ontario registered the largest gaps between the two groups of young people who were either unemployed or not in the labour force: both 24 percentage points.

While it is necessary to emphasize the relative difficulties that the younger group no longer in education face in the labour market relative to an older group of young people, likely more educated on average, it is also important to compare the employment situation of this younger group across countries. In this respect, the Canadian situation also appears better than the OECD average: the employment rate of not-in-school 15- to 19-year-olds was 63% in Canada in 2007, compared with 56% as the average for the 27 OECD countries with comparable data (Table C.2.1, relative importance of column 6 to column 9). It compares favourably with most other large OECD countries: 57% in the United States, 62% in the United Kingdom, 46% in Germany, and 35% in France, but unfavourably with the rate of 68% in Australia. However, it is worth noting that the unfavourable situation of these young people in Germany and France should be weighed against the fact that far fewer young people of this age are not in education (8% and 9%, respectively, compared with 20% in Canada) (Table C.2.1, column 9).

As observed with respect to the OECD countries, some provinces were more successful than others in meeting the challenge of integrating young adults with relatively low educational attainment into the labour force. In the Western provinces, the association of relatively high employment rates (above 70%) and relatively high proportions of young people not in education (20% to 26%), shows that labour markets with shortages draw young people even with low educational attainment. In New Brunswick, compulsory education until age 18 is likely one of the factors explaining why this province experiences one of the lowest proportions in Canada of young people not in school (17%) and an employment rate for these young people (65%) that is higher than the labour market conditions in this province would lead one to expect.⁵ The situation in the other provinces appears more typical of the difficulties young people may expect when leaving the education system early.

Definitions, sources and methodology

The indicator is calculated using cross-tabulations for the variables of age, school attendance and labour force status. Individuals are categorized according to whether or not they are in the education system and according to their labour force status (employed, unemployed, or not in the labour force). In the case of those who are in the education system and employed, a distinction is made between those who are enrolled in an official work-study programme and those who hold a job and are also studying. The different distributions are then shown for three separate age groups (15 to 19, 20 to 24, and 25 to 29).

Individuals in education are those who are studying full time or part time. Employment status is defined in accordance with the guidelines of the International Labour Organization (ILO), with the exception of individuals enrolled in work-study programmes. The latter have been classified separately into "in education" and "employed," regardless of their employment situation under the ILO guidelines during the reference week. The employment rate and the unemployment rate are, respectively, the proportion of employed and the proportion of unemployed within the total reference population. The employed are defined as those who during the survey reference week: i) work for pay (employees) or profit (self-employed and unpaid family workers) for at least one hour; or ii) have a job but are temporarily not at work (through injury, illness, holiday, strike or lock-out, educational or training leave, maternity or parental leave, etc.). The unemployed are defined as individuals who are, during the survey reference week, without work, actively seeking employment and currently available to start work. And not in the labour force captures individuals who are not working and who are not unemployed, i.e., individuals who are not looking for a job.

The data are obtained from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).⁶ They cover the first quarter or the average of the first three months of the calendar year, which excludes summer employment. The Canadian LFS does not collect data on official work-study programmes in which students might participate; in Canada, these would be considered education in the form of a co-op or student intern programme.

Note: The corresponding OECD indicator is C3, How successful are students in moving from education to work?.

Notes

1. Canadian data are for the 2006 reference year.
2. Canadian data include only tertiary-type A students and those who are in advanced research programmes (essentially university students), due to the lack of data on tertiary-type B students (essentially college students).
3. The country of permanent residence for students who are not Canadian citizens and for those who are not permanent residents of Canada is assumed to be their country of citizenship (given the problems of accurate reporting of the country of permanent residence). Based on an examination of the data, this seems to be a reasonable assumption.
4. For more details on the Postsecondary Student Information System, please see the "Definitions, sources and methodology" section for Indicator A3.
5. According to the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the unemployment rate of the 25- to 64-year-olds was 6.8% in New Brunswick in 2007. By comparison, these rates were 5.2% and 6.3% in Ontario and Quebec, respectively.
6. For more details on the Labour Force Survey (LFS), please see the "Definitions, sources and methodology" sections for Indicators A1 and A5, as well as the "Notes to readers".