Bajans attend Education Fair to pursue overseas opportunities

Canadian universities continue to be the number one option for students in the region, when they seek to attain higher educational opportunities abroad.

This comes from Sheena Alleyne, one of the organisers of Caribbean College Planner The Student Centre, who in collaboration with the High Commission of Canada, recently held its annual CUP Fest International Education Fair at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Complex.

Alleyne said that the fair, which first started in 2014, continues to see a high number of locals expressing their interest in continuing their studies in Canada, particularly in the last five to six years.

“I would say for the last five to six years, Canada has been the number one choice among students from the eastern Caribbean particularly… initially it used to be the UK and the US but the last six years we have seen a change, a very rapid change in that. I think it speaks to the presence of the Canadian schools in the market all of the time, plus they have the support of their government.

“They have a lot of mechanisms in place to create the environment to allow them to penetrate markets, in brand and recruitment.”

With over 30 universities participating this year, including Ontario Tech, McMaster University, York University, King’s University College and others, local students continue to have a wide array of choices when seeking to expand their qualifications into any field of study.

Marthe Lemay, Senior Trade Commissioner and Commercial Counsellor at the High Commission of Canada, told Barbados TODAY, that  COVID-19 did negatively affect recruitment numbers over the past two years, but the return to face to face interactions is a promising sign for numbers to once again reach pre-pandemic numbers

“We did have the fairs, but virtually in the last few years we had in 2020 and 2021 combined about 753 students from Barbados to Canada. So the numbers did drop a little bit, but we are hoping to get back the numbers we use to have before, which is close to 600 a year.

“There is nothing like a face to face meeting, so the fairs provide us with the opportunity to really meet with the students and meet with the parents.”

She further revealed, that on top of the education opportunities sought out by citizens in the region, many have used the opportunity to gain residency,

“60 per cent of international students – we are not just talking Barbados, we are talking overall international students – 60 per cent of the students do get a permanent residency permit about 10 years after they studied in Canada after they have graduated. So yes, we see a lot of them staying.”

She added Canadian universities continue to show a high interest in recruiting students from Barbados and the region, and given the high return rate of universities repeated taking part in the recruitment fair over the years, with some 60 per cent of campuses returning annually in order to speak to local students. She believes strongly that the fair will continue to reap successes for years to come. (SB)