Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and thank you to the IT team of the House of Commons for getting me online so well.
It's great to be with you today. On behalf of Universities Canada and our members, thank you for the invitation to speak with you.
Thanks also to every member of this committee for the extraordinary work that all parliamentarians are continuing to do in these very challenging times.
With me today is Marc LeBlanc, who leads our international relations work.
I had the pleasure of appearing before this committee last April to discuss the temporary foreign worker program. As you may recall, Universities Canada represents 96 universities across the country. Taken together, Canada's universities are a $38-billion enterprise employing over 300,000 people, and universities are often the largest employer in their communities. Universities are a social and economic anchor in these difficult times and they are catalysts.
Canada's universities are an integral part of the Team Canada approach to responding to COVID-19, from mitigating risk to developing a vaccine, and accelerating Canada's social and economic recovery.
Now that the borders are reopening and Canada is once again welcoming international students, we look forward to working with this committee to ensure that the country remains a prized destination for top talent.
I want to talk to you today about the role of universities in attracting the talent that will drive economic recovery.
During my last committee appearance, I mentioned that today's global competition for talent is the 21st century gold rush.
Global competition is intensifying, and while Canada has a good reputation, it will take a greater effort to attract the brightest minds.
We have taken steps like the international student program to make coming to Canada attractive to highly skilled individuals. International students contribute over $22 billion to the Canadian economy and support over 218,000 jobs. They also play a fundamental role in building Canada's highly skilled talent pipeline.
For international students, borders are reopening around the world, providing more choice than even just two years ago. Canada has a global brand of being diverse and welcoming with world-class institutions, and we're seeing more international students arriving from emerging markets. These strengths must be leveraged as the global competition heats up. It will also be critical that our immigration system remains competitive.
In the coming months, we look forward to working with this committee to ensure timely and accurate visa processing in key markets and building a more applicant-friendly experience.
A more urgent challenge we need to address is the high visa refusal rates in many of our priority markets, particularly in francophone Africa. We greatly appreciate the work of this committee to examine this issue in greater detail. On average, the largest international source countries for university enrolment see about an 80% approval rate, with some countries as high as 95%. However, some of the top African source countries for Canadian university students show lower approval rates for study permits.
In 2019, the visa approval rates for undergraduate students from Morocco and Senegal, two of our priority countries for francophone student recruitment, were 55% and 20% respectively, versus 85% and 95% in other markets.
High refusal rates have a direct impact on our recruitment efforts and on Canada's brand as a welcoming place to study and build a life. We recognize that universities have a role to play in addressing this issue, and we're ready to work with the federal government, provincial governments and others to help ensure our prospective students meet the necessary requirements to receive favourable decisions on their study permits.
To succeed, the federal government, provincial governments and universities must take a collaborative approach to attracting the best and brightest students to Canada. By working together, we can ensure that enrolment at Canadian institutions remains sustainable, allowing them to benefit from students from around the world.
We are grateful for all the work the committee is doing to help Canada recover from the pandemic. We look forward to continuing this partnership to build a strong Canada.
Thank you again for the opportunity to be with you. We look forward to working with this committee throughout this Parliament, as Canada remains a top destination for international students from around the world.