6. Conclusions

This report provides an estimate of economic impacts in Canada in 2024 and serves as an update to the previous valuations prepared for Global Affairs Canada for the years 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2022. The report is mainly based on IRCC data on international students studying in Canada for longer than six months and Languages Canada data for short-term students. Several other secondary sources have been used to collect information to estimate the quantitative impact of international students on Canada’s economy.

In addition to capturing the economic impacts of spending on tuition, fees and basic living expenses, we also capture additional tourism related activities associated with visiting family and friends. The analysis also accounts for scholarships and bursaries provided by Canadian governments (federal and provincial), universities and other Canadian institutions in estimating net expenditures by international students in Canada.

Our analysis clearly indicates that the contributions that international students make to Canada’s economy are continuing to grow. In line with an increasing number of international students, overall spending increased by 27.3% between 2022 and 2024, from $37.3 billion to $47.5 billion, faster than the increase in the number of students (20%) during the same period.

We estimate that in 2024, international students in Canada spent over $47.5 billion on tuition, accommodations and discretionary spending, which represents a $39.0 billion contributions to Canada’s GDP in 2024, an impressive increase over the $30.9 billion contribution in 2022.

The amount of overall annual spending by international students also generated $9.4 billion in tax revenues and supported 407,260 jobs in the Canadian economy in 2024, significantly up from the $7.4 billion in tax revenue and 361,200 jobs in 2022.

In 2024, Canada’s international education services ($47.5 billion, as measured by the total spending of international students studying and living in Canada) amounted to 20.1% of Canada’s total service exports to the world, and was equivalent to 6.1% of Canada’s total merchandise exports. ^{Footnote 1}

In 2024, long‑term students accounted for 97.9% of the total amount of spending by international students. They contributed $38.2 billion to Canada’s GDP and supported 400,000 jobs. Ontario accounts for the largest share of contributions to GDP (51.8%) and jobs (49.0%). Short‑term students contributed $772.9 million to Canada’s GDP and supported 7,400 jobs.

A subset of the long-term students, francophone students studying in communities outside of Quebec, contributed $572.9 million to Canada’s GDP and supported 5,800 jobs.