The President of Universities of Canada, Paul Davidson, is visiting UNBC campus to meet students and board members. After just a day in the city, he believes there’s a big opportunity for both the school and international students.
There are 286 students from other countries enrolled at UNBC, which makes up 9.5% of the student population. Davidson thinks that number will grow with President-Elect Donald Trump in the White House.
“The signals that the US is sending about their attitudes towards other people are pretty discouraging. International students in Canada contribute over $10 billion dollars a year to Canada’s economy. The value of international students to Canada’s economy exceeds that of softwood lumber.”
Also with Trump in charge, Davidson adds there’s uncertainty surrounding Canadian-American trade relations. Today’s classroom connections could benefit Canada.
“We don’t know what the trade environment is going to be with the US. We’re going to have to find some new markets, so having young people that know young people from around the world, having those institutional linkages will be really important.”
As far as his UNBC experience goes, he’s impressed with the level of student engagement in things like the school’s senate, class sizes, and the energy on campus, which he referred to as getting the “sense that this place is on the move.”
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