6. Conclusions

This report provides an estimate of economic impacts in Canada in 2022 and serves as an update to the previous valuations prepared for Global Affairs Canada for the years 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015, and 2016. The report is mainly based on IRCC data on international students studying in Canada for longer than six months and Languages Canada data for short-term students. Several other secondary sources have been used to collect information to estimate the quantitative impact of international students on Canada’s economy.

In addition to capturing the economic impacts of spending on tuition, fees and basic living expenses, we also capture additional tourism‑ related activities associated with visiting family and friends. The analysis also accounts for scholarships and bursaries provided by Canadian governments (federal and provincial), universities and other Canadian institutions in estimating net expenditures by international students in Canada.

• Our analysis clearly indicates that the contributions that international students make to Canada’s economy are continuing to grow. In line with an increasing number of international students, overall spending more than doubled between 2016 and 2022, from $15.5 billion to $37.3 billion, representing an increase of 15.7% per year.
• We estimate that in 2022, international students in Canada spent over $37.3 billion on tuition, accommodations and discretionary spending, which represents a $30.9 billion contributions to Canada’s GDP in 2022, a significant increase over the $12.8 billion contribution in 2016.
• The amount of overall annual spending by international students also generated $7.4 billion in tax revenues and supported 361,230 jobs in the Canadian economy in 2022, significantly up from the $2.8 billion in tax revenue and 168,860 jobs in 2016.
• In 2022, Canada’s international education services ($37.3 billion, as measured by the total spending of international students studying and living in Canada) amounted to 21.6% of Canada’s total service exports to the world and was equivalent to 4.0% of Canada’s total merchandise exports.^[1]
• In 2022, long-term‑ students accounted for 97.7% of the total amount of spending by international students. They contributed $30.2 billion to Canada’s GDP and supported 353,850 jobs. Ontario accounts for the largest share of contributions to GDP (54.8%) and jobs (51.5%). Short-term‑ students contributed $650.9 million to Canada’s GDP and supported 7,240 jobs.