Challenge Question
How can we put mechanisms in place to prevent international students from being put in vulnerable situations?
Partner: Tulan Ma | Senior Manager, Program Development and Innovation
Project Summary
Canada is currently the eighth most attractive destination for international university students around the world. From 1990 to 1994, only 31,000 international students were admitted to Canada each year. By 2010, this number had more than tripled to 96,000, and in 2017, the total number of international students reached 492,085. Despite these numbers, only a small percentage of international students successfully transition to permanent residency after completing their studies. Analysis shows that 19% of international students who studied in Canada between 1990 and 2014 had transitioned to permanent residency by 2014. In a recent survey, 61% of international students expressed that they had plans to work in Canada after graduation, and 50.6% had plans to apply for permanent residency. However, many of these students face difficulties in gaining permanent resident status or face barriers to employment due to the nature of their temporary status in Canada and lack of social and professional networks. Further, international students receive limited support through college and university career services that are available to all students. International students who transition to permanent residency represent an important opportunity to add skilled workers to the labour force and drive economic development, especially in less populated regions. Focusing on digital communication and technology-based solutions, this project seeks to explore mechanisms to support international students and prevent them from being put in vulnerable situations, by devising strategies to collect data on the situations faced by international students and workers; effect policy change related to immigration and work permit limitations; and engage with employers, business associations, and post-secondary institutions. Students on this project might be interested in immigration and government policy, human resources, advocacy, legal policy, and social issues related to workplace rights, equality, mental health, and racial marginalization. The team should have a range of disciplinary backgrounds, including social sciences, web design/development, and communications experience.
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Organizational Profile
Tulan has over 15 years of experience in program development, IT project management, client relationship and stakeholder engagement in the nonprofit sector. As Senior Manager, Program Development and Innovations at TRIEC, Tulan oversees programs development and funding. She steered the transformation and scaling of TRIEC's flagship mentoring program and the development of a national mentoring partnership across 8 cities. In her previous role as IT Manager, she led the organization’s digital and technology transformation increasing organizational efficiency, improving operational processes and staff capacity.
Tulan has a Honours BA in Psychology/Applied Studies from the University of Waterloo and Diploma in Digital Media Design. She is also a certified TESL and yoga teacher. She has taught and worked in China, Taiwan and Uganda.
Partner Website
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