Canadian MBA programs draw foreign students

There has been a sharp rise in the number of students from around the world applying to Canadian business schools' MBA programs in recent years.

"Looking through the numbers, the increase in applications has been quite dramatic," says Heather Ranson, MBA marketing manager at the University of Victoria.

"In 2008, we had 61 international applications to our MBA program. In 2009, we had 125. So it's more than doubled in two years. China and India have largest number of applications."

Students from the Middle East -especially in this past year of political volatility in the region -are also considering Canadian business schools in increasing numbers. While the sharp upturn is predominantly in MBA applicants, Canadian business schools attract EMBA applicants as well -despite the fact that typically EMBA students hold down a full-time job back home while enrolled in the program.

"So we have one to three foreign students per year. We had an EMBA student from Switzerland last year and we have one from the U.S. this year," says Michel Filion, director, recruitment and marketing at EMBA McGill-HEC Montréal. "Our program has four days a month in class, and the man from Switzerland was flying in every month to attend the classes. He used the travel time, about 20 hours per week, to do his course work."

There are a number of fac-tors behind the growing popularity of Canadian business schools. One is world recognition of the high quality of business education in Canada. The Financial Times, for example, consistently ranks such schools as the Sauder School of Business, the University of Alberta School of Business, Schulich, Ivey, Rotman and McGill University among the top 100 in the world.

But Canada's student visa rules, the country's diversity and welcoming reputation also help to give Canadian business schools a vital competitive advantage over schools in the U.K. and the U.S., which are the world's top recruiters of foreign students. Both these countries have moved toward more stringent student visa rules in recent years, with the U.K. currently looking at removing the twoyear post-study work permit for graduates with a bachelor-level degree or higher.

In contrast, in 2008, Ottawa extended the post-graduate work permit to three years. A student's spouse in Canada is also allowed to work.

"Consider an Indian student spending maybe ¤60,000 on an MBA and then having to go back to India where even with an MBA from a top school, even doubling his salary from his previous job, it's going to be very hard to see the return on investment. But by working in Canada for two or three years, at least he can definitely see a return on his investment," says Jonathan Khayat, associate director, recruitment and international development, MBA Program at McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management. "I would say that we also saw an increase in American students last year coming to the program.

"Partly, that's because living expenses here compared with those in major U.S. cities are lower but we've heard from students as well that they had a feeling that the Canadian economy did much better in terms of the dealing with the last economic crisis, so for them that was also a factor."

In addition to Canada's international recognition for its handling of the recession, the country's cultural diversity is also a big draw. "We did a focus group last year with Indian students to see why they chose our school and why Canada," says Ms. Ranson.

"They chose Canada because of its international reputation. They wanted an English-speaking country. They found the U.K. harder to get into. Australia and Canada were their preferred choices. And Canada has a reputation as being a very welcoming destination and that was a big draw for them."

Given the internationalization of business worldwide and in Canada, business students both here and abroad are keen on experiencing as much exposure to different cultural perspectives as possible.

"I think everyone understands the world is getting smaller," says Maria Sophocleous, director, MBA recruiting and admissions at the Richard Ivey School of Business.

"International and Canadian students are attracted by the calibre and the diversity of the student body that they would find in a Canadian program. That diversity is something Canada is known for."

Foreign students add to the globalized experience -and international networking -for Canadian students as well.

"They have to work with groups, solve problems, meet goals, deadlines, so it's like a mini UN in our classroom," says Ms. Ranson. "We're very focused on providing our students with an international experience and global mindset."

Read full article: Financial Post, March 29, 2011