Primary and Secondary Education

Who is Studying in Alberta

educationAlberta schools attract students from all over the world. In the 2006-2007 school year, approximately 1500 foreign students attended school in Alberta as an international student or exchange student.

International Students

International students generally come to Alberta to live with members of their extended family or with a host family for the duration of their studies. They tend to stay in Alberta for a relatively long period of time (from several months up to several years); some even graduate with an Alberta High School Diploma. To find out more about how to study in Alberta as an international student please see the Application Process page.

Exchange students

Exchange students live and study in Alberta for a set period of time (from several months up to a year) as part of a reciprocal exchange program recognized by Alberta Education. Participating students are partnered with Alberta students to exchange knowledge about each other's culture and/or language. Depending on the program, exchange students may:

  1. live and study together first in Alberta and then in the exchange partner's country of origin; or
  2. trade places and live and study in their partner's home country for the duration of the exchange.

Alberta Education coordinates student exchanges with states in Germany, Mexico, Japan and Spain where it has negotiated specific agreements enabling these types of programs. Please visit our Student Language Development Exchange web pages for more information on our partners abroad.

Origins of International and Exchange Students in Alberta 2006-2007

Country

International

Exchange

Country

International

Exchange

Australia

4

0

Macao

6

0

Austria

0

2

Malaysia

9

0

Belgium

0

1

Mexico

69

6

Brazil

54

2

New Zealand

3

0

Brunei

5

0

Québec

1

20

Chile

6

0

Russia

6

1

China

161

1

Saudi Arabia

4

0

Columbia

8

0

Slovakia

3

0

Denmark

10

0

South Korea

608

9

Ecuador

1

0

Spain

10

24

Finland

1

0

Sweden

1

1

France

4

8

Switzerland

2

2

Germany

52

32

Taiwan

45

0

Hong Kong

75

0

Tanzania

1

0

Hungary

0

1

Thailand

17

1

India

8

1

Turkey

2

2

Indonesia

4

0

UAE

7

0

Iran

1

0

UK

6

0

Italy

2

1

USA

4

0

Japan

114

20

Venezuela

5

0

Laos

1

0

Vietnam

26

3

Libya

3

0

 

 

 

 

 

 

International

Exchange

 

 

Year Total

1349

138