Ontario throws open its doors to graduate students

As the governments in the US, the UK and other European countries continue to clamp down on admitting overseas students, Canada, it seems, is throwing open its doors. The province of Ontario is hoping to attract 75 overseas PhD candidates to study at local universities and is offering each of them $40,000 a year for up to four years as an incentive.

The province of Ontario will invest Can$20 million to support the PhD programme, with participating universities in the province contributing a further Can$10 million. Officials in Ontario argue that giving scholarships to attract the world’s brightest students will help Ontario universities compete with top international universities and will help beef up Ontario’s economy. It will also strengthen academic, cultural and business ties with other countries.

A similar scheme is already in place in Ottawa.

The trillion scholarships, as they are called, are part of the Toronto government’s Open Ontario plan, intended to boost the province’s economy by attracting skilled overseas professionals to the region.