Good afternoon. I'm Paul Davidson, president of AUCC. With me is André Dulude, the vice-president of advocacy.
Since I've seen you last, many of you have been out across the country seeing the knowledge infrastructure program at work. I hope you received a copy of our progress report to all members of Parliament last week.
I want to assure you that the knowledge infrastructure program is working. It's transforming classrooms that were built in the age of the Sputnik and creating 21st century learning and research environments.
I hope also that you're watching the economy as closely as we are, and if you remember one fact from today, keep in mind that from September 2008 to September 2010, during the worst part of the worst recession in 60 years, across Canada there were net 280,000 new jobs for university graduates and 250,000 jobs eliminated for those without higher education. I think that speaks to the changing nature of Canada's economy and the move to the knowledge-based economy.
I also want to underscore that students, parents, and employers recognize the value of a university degree. Earlier this fall we released data that showed that those with a university degree will over their lifetime earn $1.5 million more than those without a university degree and that university graduates contribute 40% of Canada's tax base. In short, Canada needs more university graduates.
In looking at the situation facing Canada, Canada's universities considered the concurrent challenges of demography, productivity, and innovation and developed a three-part plan to help ensure Canada's economic renewal and global competitiveness.
Let me get to the recommendations right away: first, continued and increased investments in Canada's science and technology strategy; second, new investments that support a major international education marketing effort to establish a national brand for Canada around the world; and third, investments in programs and services that will help more aboriginal students graduate from university.
I know people in Ottawa are wrestling with how to communicate the productivity challenge. For me, the clearest example is that over the next 20 years the number of people of retirement age is going to double and the number of those entering the workforce is only going to increase by 8%. What that means is that we have to increase the skills and talents and abilities of every Canadian to meet that challenge.
That's also why investing in research is so critically important. Canada's science and technology strategy is delivering results, and AUCC recommends that the Government of Canada continue to build on its previous initiatives to attract and retain top talent—the Vaniers, the Bantings, the Canada excellence research chairs. These are important initiatives, and we are encouraging, this year specifically, renewing and growing the commitment to fund the Canada graduate scholarships program.
We're also calling for continued investments in Canada's granting agencies. These investments are foundational to the science and technology strategy and ensure that Canada remains an international leader in research. It wouldn't be an AUCC presentation if we didn't mention that we would hope these increases include support for the full costs of research.
I want to turn for a moment to the question of international education marketing. I understand there were some good presentations earlier today, and I just want to reinforce the message of those presentations, that bringing international students to Canada enriches the learning experience for all Canadians, helps Canada meet its labour needs, boosts local economies, and builds long-term links overseas.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade last year estimated that international students contribute $6.5 billion a year to Canada's economy. This year, we're pleased to report, international student enrollment is up 10%. Although this is good news, there is a lot more work to be done. The U.S., the United Kingdom, and Australia are simply outpacing us. We need to aggressively promote higher education to bring more international students to Canada and to build Canada's brand internationally.
Let me say two things that have happened since I've been before this committee that are significant. The first is that the national education stakeholders around the country have agreed to form an international consortium to market Canada overseas. Second, every Canadian premier has identified this as a priority. It's pretty rare when there's that kind of consensus in Canada.
I will mention briefly that next week we'll be leading a delegation of 16 university presidents to India, and we are hopeful that the Government of Canada will consider targeted investments to support our India strategy.
Let me close by speaking to an issue I spoke about last year, and that's engaging the capacities of every Canadian to their full extent. There are 460,000 aboriginal Canadians who are entering the job market, and the question before this committee and every Canadian is, are those young people going to have full access to every opportunity in this country, or are we going to let another generation go? We need to increase financial support for aboriginal students, we need to increase the graduate scholarships for them, and we also need to support the pilot projects that demonstrate how they can be successful and full participants in Canadian life.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.