Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's a great question. Thank you for asking it. Through the research we've done among international students, one thing we've learned is that they really enjoy going to school in our region. We have very unique universities, among the oldest in the country, and we have many sm

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It's a great question. I think the situation for international students isn't that different from that of domestic students when they graduate from post-secondary education. Their number one mission is employment. Finding a job or having the opportunity to begin a career, especia

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you for inviting me to appear before the committee on a subject so important to the future of Atlantic Canada—the successful attraction and retention of new Canadians to our region. I'm Peter Halpin, executive director of the Association of

Finance committee  Yes. It is 7,338, to be exact.

Finance committee  I think our numbers are about average. International student enrollments increased right across the country in this current academic year.

Finance committee  What we understand from the Canadian Bureau for International Education...this is a little more anecdotal than the Citizenship and Immigration Canada numbers, but we understand that about 30% will apply for permanent resident status either during their studies or upon graduation.

Finance committee  I don't think it would compete at all. All our universities compete for funding from the national granting councils and have had great success doing so. That's based on the quality of their work and their competitiveness. What we're proposing is to build on something that already

Finance committee  Absolutely. ACOA is a very strong supporter of our universities in Atlantic Canada.

Finance committee  No. On the contrary, I think our universities are very competitive when competing for funding from the national granting councils. However, I think it was your government that created the Atlantic Innovation Fund, if I'm not mistaken, which has been very successful in our region.

Finance committee  Good morning, Mr. Chair and committee members. My name is Peter Halpin. I'm the executive director of the Association of Atlantic Universities, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The AAU is an advocacy organization that represents the interests of universities across our region, th