For the past seven years, the Times has run an interactive that provides grades for more than 70 colleges and universities across Canada. In 2015-16, the most recent year for which scores were available, the lowest of the campuses with A grades, came from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, for a 10. And Toronto’s York University landed a 3.
Five years of data show that Ontario gets low marks for international students. Universities such as McMaster and York enroll more students from outside Canada than the next highest performer in that category. In addition, English-speaking young people from overseas make up almost a quarter of all students enrolled at universities in the province, compared with a slightly smaller proportion who are Canadian-born, the rankings show.
Canada’s education minister, Liz Sandals, took to Twitter to defend Ontario’s international education program, which extends to more than 220 different countries. “Our international student engagement has huge potential to strengthen economic growth and help make our workforce the most competitive in the world,” she said.
I’m a lot more concerned about the #accreditation grades that much-maligned Ontario universities get, especially when it comes to learning English, encouraging trade skills, and investing in English speakers. But I’ll always stand up for Canadian students. We welcome and support them. 🇨🇦https://t.co/2CdeFVQG6y — Liz Sandals (@lizsandals) July 20, 2018
Readers can also give Ontario universities an overall score by clicking on “This College or University is For You.”