The table details the student population of foreign background in Canada and the USA in 2002 and 2003.
In general, there were substantially more international students in American schools compared to those in Canada. Notably, Indian was the least common nationality amongst overseas students in both Canada and the USA.
Beginning with Canada, the country recorded just under 60,000 international students in 2002, of which 5,400 came from the USA, 5,000 from mainland China, and only 2,100 originated from India. A year later, the total number of students from abroad experienced mild growth, with most of the increase driven by a surge in Chinese students to the country, which rose by almost half to nearly 8,000. In addition, more Indians also chose to study in Canada, with a leap of 35% to 2,835 in the period. On a side note, America’s figure saw a small change of about 9% larger, though still twice the size of India’s.
In comparison, more than 580,000 people were registered as international students in the USA in 2002. Notably, Canadians held a large share of the number as 200,000 students claimed it to be their place of origin. Also, Chinese overseas students were numerous, numbering just over half of the Canadians, whereas only 31,000 Indian nationals attended American schools. There was a minimal increase of 2% in the international student body the following year and similarly, much of the newcomers were Chinese and Indians, whose figures rose by 6% and 7%, respectively. On the other hand, the quantity of Canadians studying in the USA dropped significantly by almost a tenth to slightly over 180,000 in 2003.