Canada welcomed over 100,000 international students in 2012, the highest amount in the country’s history. The number was a 60% jump from intake levels in 2004.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has proposed changes to the International Student Program. These changes are intended to benefit students while taking steps to prevent and reduce fraud.

The Government of Canada will be accepting up to 1,000 international PhD students as permanent residents through the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program per year.

According to the new QS World University Rankings, Montreal’s McGill University is the top-ranked university in the country. McGill moved up from 19th place last year to 17th place worldwide this year.

The University of Alberta recently announced that they are welcoming more Indian students than ever. Indian students seeking high-quality education at inexpensive costs are looking abroad, especially to Canada.

A new QS World University Ranking placed Quebec’s McGill University’s law faculty as 12th best in the world and number one in Canada. Rankings were based on academic opinion, employer opinion, and citations by academics.

In 2008, more than 160,000 Indian students were studying abroad, but only 4,000 of them were in Canada. Canada is looking to change those numbers by playing a larger role in India’s desire for higher education.

According to new research from Statistics Canada, children of immigrants are more likely than Canadian-born children to earn university degrees. Statistics Canada also found that child immigrants earn approximately the same amount of money as Canadian-born children once they are in the labour market.

According to a survey of international schools conducted by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Canada was found to have some of the highest performing students in the world. Students from countries such as China, Australia, Finland, Japan, Canada and more were tested on mathematical and reading skills and their knowledge of the sciences.

Recent statistics reveal that the number of applicants applying for a Canadian student visas from India has quadrupled in the last 3 years. It is estimated that over 20,000 student visas will be issued to Indian students in 2011.

Yesterday, the Government of Manitoba announced changes to the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program that will make it faster and easier for international students to apply for a Canadian Immigration (permanent resident) visa to stay and work in the province.

Last April, the Student Partners Program, a joint initiative between Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC), was launched. The pilot project was aimed at increasing the approval rate for study permits for Indian students accepted into the participating Canadian colleges. To date, the study permit approval rate for Indian students accepted at Canadian community colleges has doubled.