Canada is becoming a top choice study destination for UAE students, a new poll suggests.
The poll of 300 UAE youths chose the North American country as their top choice for study abroad, ahead of the United States and the United Kingdom. Most respondents were from India, Pakistan, the Philippines and the GCC, and about 76 per cent were high school pupils.
The independent poll was commissioned by the Canadian immigration firm Beeton and Co after a sharp increase in applicants for study visas in Canada.
“It was a surprise,” said Julie Beeton, a Canadian immigration lawyer and the firm’s managing director. “Over the last year I’ve noticed a huge increase in clients wanting to know about study abroad programmes, either for master's degrees or for their kids. I had a number of clients that came to me after the Trump travel bans. They were studying in the US and wanted to change and study in Canada.”
This autumn, universities and colleges in Canada have welcomed a growing number of Middle Eastern students. Universities recorded a significant increase in applicants and enrolments in the past 12 months.
At the University of Alberta, GCC applicants increased by 30 per cent compared to this time last year, while the University of Toronto saw a 50 per cent uptick in applicants and enrolment in students from the Middle East, Pakistan and Turkey.
International applicants at the University of Alberta have increased by 25 per cent overall.
“We have seen a steady growth in Canada altogether over the last 10 years but this year has not only been a growth but a big jump,” said Britta Baron, vice-provost and associate vice-president (International). “For most of the big research-intensive universities like ours, that has been particularly true.”
She credits stronger international recruitment strategies, a weak Canadian dollar and what she’s dubbed "the Trump factor".
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Read more:
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“There is the Trump factor, no doubt, and we see that particularly in countries that were or are affected by the travel ban,” said Ms Baron. “There’s a huge increase out of Iran, like three digits.”
Ms Baron said her counterparts south of the border had not seen much growth or decline in registrations for the 2017-2018 academic year. “I work a lot with my colleagues in the United States,” she said. “Altogether there is no evidence of dramatic decline in the undergraduate level; when Trump came to power we were already in the middle of a recruitment cycle. The full impact of the Trump factor is not going to be seen until the next cycle.”
The increase in Middle Eastern applicants at the University of Toronto was comparable to the increase for international students overall. Partial credit for Canada’s growing popularity was given to the image of its prime minister, Justin Trudeau.
“They know that our prime minister has spoken about getting the best talent for the innovation economy and is doing so by looking around the world and trying to attract the best and the brightest from around the world,” said Ted Sargent, the University of Toronto's vice-president international, who visited Dubai in early October to meet with alumni and potential students. “Canada is really looking outward rather than looking inward.”
A few weeks ago, the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver welcomed more than 100 new students from the Emirates, nearly a 50 per cent increase from last year. Applicants from the Middle East for the 2017-2018 academic year increased 14 per cent since last year, consistent with the increase in international applicants.
"Interest in UBC from Middle East applicants has grown steadily over the past several years, and this year was no different," said Karen McKellin, the executive director of UBC's International Student Initiative.
In 2014, Canada’s federal government announced its target to nearly double the country’s international student population from 239,000 in 2011 to 450,000 in 2022. Its international education strategy listed the UAE and Saudi Arabia among 10 key market countries.
Currently, a third of Canada’s international students are from China, according to the non-profit Canadian Bureau for International Education. There is growing engagement with the Emirates, while enrolment from Saudi Arabia, traditionally the strongest GCC market, drops as the Kingdom tightens its budget and cuts scholarships to mitigate falling oil prices. Enrolment from Saudi Arabia graduates at the University of Alberta are “in free fall”, said Ms Baron.
International students in Canada injected about CA$11.4 billion (Dh33.2bn) into the economy in 2014 and those who come, settle. According to the CBIE, half of Canada's international students plan to apply for permanent residency.
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Company%20profile
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match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
MATCH DETAILS
Juventus 2 (Bonucci 36, Ronaldo 90 6)
Genoa 1 (Kouame 40)
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
