Economic impact of international education in Canada — 2022 update

Executive summary

Existing literature, as well as the previous studies on the economic impacts of international education conducted by Roslyn Kunin and Associates (RKA) for Global Affairs Canada, clearly indicates that there is a significant positive value associated with international students studying in Canada. The current study updates previous studies with more recent data and assesses the economic impact that international students studying in Canada in 2022 had on the Canadian economy.

We estimate that, in 2022 international students in Canada spent around $37.3 billion on tuition, accommodation, and discretionary items. The economic impacts presented in this report focus on the combined direct and indirect impacts associated with such spending.

Key results:

• After accounting for Canadian scholarships and bursaries, the total annual expenditures of international students, including their visiting families and friends, contributed $37.3 billion to economic activities in Canada in 2022. This translates into a $30.9 billion contribution to Canada’s GDP in 2022, or 1.2% of Canada’s GDP.
• Students from India, in particular those studying at the college level, contributed most to the increase in the number of “long-term” students, with Ontario accounting for the biggest increase in the number of international students.
• Ontario, with the largest number of students, made the largest contribution to GDP with $16.9 billion (54.6% of 30.9 billion), followed by British Columbia, with 18.4% and Quebec, with 12.4%.
• An important metric in economic impact analysis is the number of jobs supported. International students’ overall annual spending in 2022 translates to 361,230 jobs (the equivalent of 246,310 FTEs) supported in the Canadian economy in 2022.
• International students’ annual spending directly and indirectly contributed $7.4 billion in tax revenue in 2022.
• Because international students’ expenditures represent revenue for goods and services from overseas, they are Canadian exports of education services.
• In 2022, the value of international education services, as measured by total spending by international students in Canada ($37.3 billion) amounted to 23.1% of Canada’s total service exports to the world,^[1] and equaled 5.1% of Canada’s total merchandise exports.
• The top 10 source countries accounted for $26.4 billion in international student spending in 2022, which translates to 22.2% of the total service exports, or 4.0% of Canada’s total merchandise exports to these countries.
• In 2022, long-term international students accounted for 97.7% of the total spending by international students, they contributed $30.3 billion to Canada’s GDP and supported 353,850 jobs.

Key results of the study are summarized in the following tables.