Canadian universities bet big on international students but are having to navigate global geopolitical and economic trends in their pursuit of the lucrative market.
Statistics Canada numbers show that study permits for Chinese students have fallen about 40 per cent since 2018.
Indian student numbers have meanwhile doubled since 2018, but the future of that market is now also being clouded by diplomatic tensions between Ottawa and New Delhi over the killing of a Sikh activist in B-C.
Graham Barber from the advocacy group Universities Canada says schools are now courting markets such as Mexico, Nigeria and Vietnam to diversify the international student population.
Federal statistics show international students contributed more than 22-billion-dollars to the Canadian economy last year.