University of Toronto president says his school has 30 per cent more students from the city than five years ago
Canada has become an increasingly popular higher education destination for Hongkongers, the head of the University of Toronto said this week, with his own institution recording a more than 30 per cent increase in students from the city over the last five years.
Meric Gertler attributed the heightened interest to the university performing consistently well in global rankings as well as the country’s openness to foreigners – as opposed to a perceived less welcoming atmosphere in the US and UK, two traditional powerhouses in university education.
The Canadian academic and university president noted that Hong Kong had been an important source of students for the University of Toronto, the institution having about 650 undergraduates and postgraduates from the city. That figure was only about 490 in 2012.
Gertler added that the increase in interest seemed to be a general trend in Canada.
He said he thought it was influenced by political events in recent years, including the British referendum vote to leave the European Union – the so-called Brexit – and the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency, both of which are thought to have been spurred in part by hostility to immigration.
“Both events make Canada look more attractive because while international students might have perceived the US [and the UK] as being now less welcoming to international students, you see Canada going in the opposite direction, encouraging international students to come,” he said.
