Majority of international students who remained in Canada are in the province where they studied: CBC report

According to  a study conducted by the Conference Board of Canada, most of the international students who studied in Canada don’t change their province after completing their education. The high retention rate is mostly for the next period of study or work.

The study is based on the data available from Statistics Canada and takes a look at the student retention one year and three years after study.

Provincial retention rate one year after completing studies in Canada

Data shows that one year after their studies, the majority of international students choose to stay back in the province where they have studied. Among the provinces with the highest retention rate for students are Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta, each with a retention rate higher than 80%.

The following chart shows the retention percentage of students in different provinces of Canada. The overall retention rate is also pretty high at close to 70%.

Provincial retention rate three years after completing studies in Canada

Even three years after their study permit has expired, most international students still choose to stick to their original province, data suggests.

As per reports, nine out of the thirteen Canadian provinces saw a retention rate higher than 50% even three years after completing studies. Quebec and Alberta again had the highest retention rates in this study as well.

The Conference Board of Canada also suggested further steps with which provinces can increase their retention rates. These include creating a strong post-secondary sector, and providing settlement services to help students start their career and build connections with the community.

Apart from that, increasing the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) slots for international students, and strengthening immigration pathways were also on the suggestion list. Also check out the list of the best PNP programmes in Canada.

You can check the complete CBC report here.

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