Canada Witnesses 70% Surge In Number Of South African Students

According to an immigration expert in South Africa, students in the country are “increasingly” wanting to study in Canada, with work permits being the main inducement.

In a recent interview, Cape Town-based Nicholas Avramis stated that surveys show a 70% increase in students going to Canada to study at various universities. Avramis added that the range of programmes, particularly in technology – such as coding and software engineering – are enticing students to Canada for post-graduation career prospects.

“Canada by far has the largest contingent of foreign students of any country,” says Avramis, who runs Beaver Immigration Consulting. “South Africans are adventurous people and they travel all over the world, for education,” he continued.

Many Canadian grads go to the United States, and there is a significant brain drain… As a result, there is a high demand for technology in the country.

“When [students] graduate, they get a three-year open work permit to find work anywhere in the country, and then after a year you can apply to stay, for permanent residency,” he told Africa Melane.

“With the Canadian option, it’s an investment in your future and your family’s future if you stay, and other countries just don’t offer that,” he continued.

It comes at a time when Canada has seen a “record issuance” of student visas, most notably from India, with China not far behind, prompting a call to prioritise diversity among international student bodies at Canadian universities.

A total of 447,085 Canadian study licences became effective in 2021, albeit it was unclear whether all of these students were in the country at the time of measurement. According to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser, 300,000 international students were admitted last year.

Canada is still viewed as a “secure and stable country” as well as an “open and inviting country,” and these criteria continue to be essential in student decision-making.

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