Monday, October 06, 2008

War for Talent: Canada

GlobalHigherEd picks up on a story about Canada's new idea for attracting talent:

The fact that Canada has pursued an education brand is noteworthy as it signals a new, perhaps unprecedented, form of collaboration across the different levels of government in relation to international education. As Glen Jones explained in another GlobalHigherEd entry, education remains an issue of provincial and territorial jurisdiction in Canada, meaning that international education policies have generally remained decentralized and uncoordinated. This new brand, however, was developed through collaboration by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade’s (DFAIT) Edu-Canada Initiative, the provincial and territorial ministries of education and the CMEC, as well as several stakeholder and sectoral representatives. And while provincial responsibility for education is not at question, this multi-scalar and multi-sectoral initiative represents a new structural response to concerns of competitiveness in the international education industry and for the potential labour force gains that foreign students who choose to remain in Canada, post-graduation, represent.

The institutional cooperation is impressive, though the challenge to grab a greater market share of international students is daunting. Following Canada's struggles with the geographic mobility of talent, I've noticed that there is a better discussion of brain drain. That said, I'm not sure Canada can point to any policy dividends as of yet. Attracting talent is still a novel enterprise, for any country (and region).

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