The population of international students at the Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board is growing.
After a 20-day delegation to Asia this year, the board expects to attract over 100 students to the area, which could bring in revenue of about $1.6-million.
Director of Education Paul Picard says Windsor-Essex is becoming an attractive place for these students because it offers safety and a healthier environment.
"They can integrate into a North American culture here, but still have the safety net of knowing that there's a very strong representative of Chinese, Japanese, South Korean, or Vietnamese population here," says Picard.
Students are housed with local families, and are integrated into classrooms throughout the board. Some stay as long as a semester, while others are here for a short-term stay.
"They bring a work ethic that is infectious that helps our students as well. When they see this, everybody wins," says Picard.
Attracting international students has become part of the board's strategy to maintain enrollment and increase revenue. Picard says, though they have been seeing the trend of decreasing enrollment slow down, they still need to diversify.
"I think the decline in enrollment is going to be something that is a thing of the past rapidly. But, we'd be very, very wise not to focus on the good things that are here now, but plan appropriately for if this happens again," says Picard. "Massive layoffs and declines of 800-1000 students a year is not a fun thing to go through, so let's diversify. Our economy is diversifying, let's diversify education as well."