Conference Theme: Canada and Retention Rates

conference theme: The conference theme, Building Stability and Creating Opportunity Lessons from Atlantic Canada, aligned with the commitment to collaboration among all regional stakeholders to attract and retain international students, according to The Chronicle Herald. Part of the AAU's mandate is to enable and promote inter-institutional collaboration, as well as partnership with the private sector, governments and communities. That was the topic of a presentation made by the Association of Atlantic universities the AAU at the recent Conference Board of Canada leaders' roundtable on immigration in Halifax. Our region has the most rapidly aging and declining population in Canada, and the lowest attraction and retention rates of new Canadians of any part of Canada. As the region's domestic population continues its steady decline, the value of international students to future institutional sustainability grows in importance. Yet, over the past 10 years, enrolment of international students in our universities has increased by more than 100 per cent! Today there are close to 14,000 international students studying in the region, representing nearly 20 per cent of total full-time university enrolment. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.