Welcomed by Canada, drawn by U of T’s excellence: Why international students are increasingly coming here

Dorsa Fardaei remembers being in a New York airport with her family and friends, where she was told by her friends to stop speaking Persian. They didn’t want her to be suspected of being a terrorist.

“That was really bad,” Fardaei told the Boston Globe.

Now in Toronto, her friends ask her to teach them Persian words, the first-year University of Toronto student said. 

The Boston Globe sent a reporter to Toronto recently to speak with students like Fardaei about why they're increasingly choosing Canada over the United States for post-secondary education.

Canada’s diversity and its aggressive goal to recruit international students to spur economic growth are key factors, journalist Laura Krantz reported.

While many see the U.S. as increasingly demonizing foreigners and immigrants, Canada is seen as more inclusive and diverse, she noted. U of T, the country’s “most elite university,” has seen a 21 per cent increase over last year in admission acceptances by foreign students, and international students find Toronto to be welcoming and comfortable, the article said.

Melanie Backal, a Colombian student who thought she would go to Harvard, told the Boston Globe she changed her mind when Donald Trump got elected.

“All the things he said about Latinos, and everything that’s going on there, I decided to not take a risk.”

She chose U of T instead.

Read The Boston Globe article