New Rules Help Draw Foreign Students

A pilot project between Canada’s visa offices in India and 20 member colleges of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) was recently announced to increase the approval rate for study permit applications destined for participating colleges. Wait times for a study visa have gone from eight months to an average of 2.5 weeks. Despite having tightened screening of applicants to ensure sufficient financial resources and English proficiency, approval ratings for student visa applications in India have more than doubled from the previous year. Canadian colleges laud the program, saying it will help them compete with schools in the United States, Britain and Australia in attracting international students, who pay far higher tuitions than local students and make globally savvy employees down the line.