When is a Strategy not Strategic? The Federal Government’s Role in International Education

Abstract

In November 2018, the federal government announced its intention to unilaterally develop a new international education strategy. This report argues that it would be more effective for the federal government to eschew grand strategies and instead use international education strategically in advancing other, and more properly federal, policy goals. Encouraging more Canadians to study abroad and more international students to come to Canada – two main goals of international education – is laudable. But as the report shows, the main levers to achieve these goals are in the hands of provincial governments and educational institutions. This is why the federal government’s previous international education strategy, launched as recently as 2014, had little impact. A federal focus on Canadians studying abroad is unlikely to fare any better for the same reason, argues the report. However, there are a number of more properly federal policy goals that could be advanced by strategic use of international education. For instance, the federal government could focus on supporting international students from areas of the world facing instability or crisis, advancing Canada’s foreign policy goals of encouraging stability and human rights worldwide. Such initiatives constitute a more effective – and more strategic – federal approach to international education.