Exporting education - Canada has barely tapped world demand for higher learning

By Dezsö J. Horváth, Special to Financial Post. As global trade has increased, Canada’s share of exports and foreign direct investment has been slowly but steadily declining. Our country’s competitiveness in the global arena also continues to fall — we now rank 14th in the world, down from ninth in 2009, according to the World Economic Forum.
But Canada has a golden opportunity to make up lost ground by capitalizing on one area where we have the potential to be an economic powerhouse: higher education. The fact is, education is a knowledge-intensive export. It also happens to be a service we’re very good at providing: The best Canadian colleges and universities deliver education programs at a level that few other countries can match, available in both official languages. A number of our universities consistently rank among the best globally, as do a number of Canadian business schools and specialized programs in disciplines and fields ranging from aquaculture to computer animation. More...