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Canada as a Small Country International Conference on The University in a Small Country and Global World University of Latvia, Riga. Dr. Sheila Embleton York University, Toronto, Canada September 26, 2009. Canada – from sea to sea to sea. But Canada is large…!. Russia 17,098,242 km 2
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Canada as a Small CountryInternational Conference on The University in a Small Country and Global WorldUniversity of Latvia, Riga Dr. Sheila Embleton York University, Toronto, Canada September 26, 2009
But Canada is large…! • Russia 17,098,242 km2 • Canada 9,984,670 km2 (6.7% of total landmass) • China 9,596,961 – 9,639,688 – 9,758,801 km2 • USA 9,629,091 km2 • Latvia 64,589 km2 • English 340m, #3 and French 78m, #11 • (with L2, English 812m, #2 and French 128m, #9) • British Commonwealth, la francophonie • Latvian 1.6m, #201 • G8, G20, NATO, OAS, APEC, …
But Canada is large …! • Longest coastline in the world • Longest “unprotected” land-border in the world • 9% of the world’s available freshwater • Natural and agricultural resources
But remember that … • population 33,758,000 (August 2009) • 0.5% of the world’s population (#36) • USA is ~307,238,000m (4.53%) • Latvia 2,257,300 (0.033%) (#141) • Population density per km2: Canada 3.0 (#219), Latvia 36 (#170) • ¾ of the population within 150 km of border • “mosaic” vs. “melting pot” • 43 ethnic origins with > 100,000
We are a mosaic • 10 provinces, 3 territories • (Ontario 13.2m, Québec 7.8m, British Columbia 4.4m, Alberta 3.6m, … Prince Edward Island 140,402) • (Ontario 1,076,395 km2, Québec 1,542,056 km2, BC 944,735 km2, Alberta 661,848 km2, … PEI 5660 km2) • Autonomy = many things are provincial responsibility not federal, e.g. education, health care, various certifications, etc.
Education • excellence in higher education • English (and French) language • rankings (THES, Shanghai Jiaotong, etc.) • THES 5 in top 100, 12 in top 200 (compared to US 37 in top 100, 56 in top 200) • attractiveness for political, social, logistical reasons • technologically advanced (cell phones and internet), excellent health care, etc. • technology and inventiveness
Technology and inventiveness (1) • long history (Alexander Graham Bell, telephone, 1876) • information technology and communications (telephone, blackberry, radio tubes, wireless radio, radio-transmitted voice [and first trans-Atlantic voice transmission], television, foghorn, Watfor and java computer languages, walkie-talkie, wire-photo (1924), computerized Braille) • medicine (insulin, first heart valve operation, first implantable remotely controlled artificial heart, heart pacemaker, CPR mannequins, bone marrow compatibility test, pablum, electric wheelchair, cobalt-6-bomb cancer treatment, cancer blood test, able walker, electric prosthetic hand (1971), Air Canada as first totally non-smoking airline)
Technology and inventiveness (2) • other technology (Canadarm, crash position indicator, electron microscope, stereo-orthography mapmaking system, sonar, UV degradable plastics, instant replay on TV (1955), electric oven, electronic music synthesizer, electric organ, extraction of oil from tar-sands, plexiglass, electric car heater, caulking gun, spirit level, television, green ink for banknotes (1862), phonograph/gramophone, odometer, STOL aircraft, hydrofoil boat, ship screw propellor (1833), IMAX (1967) films, panoramic picture camera, film colorization, tone-to-pulse converter, Robertson screwdriver [square tip], humane fur animal trap, kerosene, …
Technology and inventiveness (3) • … explosives vapour detector, fathometer, perforated breakwater, automatic postal sorter, propeller de-icer, tracer bullets, alkaline battery, oxyacetylene torch, first patented lightbulb) • food stuffs (frozen fish, ginger ale, chocolate bar, instant potato flakes, synthetic sucrose [1953], Thousand Islands dressing, bloody Caesar cocktail, canola oil, “latte art”)
Technology and inventiveness (4) • items in daily use (zipper, wonderbra [push-up bra], Tilley hats and clothing, green plastic garbage bags, newsprint, paint roller, snowblower, snowmobile/skidoo [Bombardier 1922 – now airplanes!], jetliner, electric streetcar (1883), double-decker commuter trains, scenic-dome rail cars, railway car brake, rotary railway snowplough, roadway guardrail, pictographs for universal signage, lawn sprinkler (1870s), standard time and time zones, washing machine, electric kettle, electric range/stove, surtitles, Gore-tex®, crocs, Winnie the Pooh [<Winnipeg], board game Trivial Pursuit [by York Education graduates!])
Technology and inventiveness (5) • sports (lacrosse, five-pin bowling, rollerskates, laser sailboat, tabletop hockey-game, basketball, unfortunately not hockey but at least the goalie mask) • agriculture (combine harvester, potato digger, rust-resistant red fife wheat, barbed wire – we are not responsible for the uses others made of that) • entertainment figures (Paul Anka, Diana Krall, Oscar Peterson, Tori Amos, Leslie Nielsen, Lorne Greene, Céline Dion, Rachel McAdams [a York grad!], …) • while many are outright new technology, many are inventive/novel uses of existing technology or just “smart” – no R&D cost, just ingenuity
Returning to the theme of education • quality of the education • attractiveness of Canada (“Canadian Experience Class” application for permanent resident status, from October 2008) • peaceful • democratic socialism • social justice • access/opportunity • prosperity • BUT • fragmentation • difficulty in getting a national “brand”
What is the Canadian “brand”? • EduCanada consultations • Peacekeeping (Lester Pearson, Suez Crisis, 1956) • non-belligerent • forging and living up to international agreements • foreign aid • help in times of disaster (earthquake, tsunami, health crises, fires, etc.) • clean/not-polluted • friendly • quiet diplomacy • cold climate …
Changing landscape for international education in past 20 years • Fall of Berlin Wall / demise of USSR • Economic emergence of Asia • Bologna Process • Internet technology (recruitment, “Global Village”, online instruction, sense of anytime anywhere • Current global economic (and confidence) crisis • Going forward – transition into a knowledge-based economy • Australian marketing techniques (Australian Education International: 555 staff, 25 offices, $51m (CDN) annual budget plus IDP Education Australia: 600 staff, 82 offices, budget not known
Marketing efforts of others (1) • Australian Education International: 555 staff, 25 offices, $51m (CDN) annual budget plus IDP Education Australia: 600 staff, 82 offices, budget unknown • EduFrance/CampusFrance: staff not available, 108 offices, budget not available • DAAD (Germany): 272 staff (plus 378 contract staff), 63 offices, budget $455m • Education New Zealand: staff 10, offices 1, budget not known • *Data from Daniel Guhr, Illuminate Group, August 12, 2009
Marketing efforts of others (2) • British Council/Education UK: 5570 staff (plus instructors), ~233 offices, budget $1.03b; Universities UK: staff 10, offices 1, budget $16.8m (CDN) • US Dept of Education: staff (unknown), offices 1, budget $146M (CDN) • NUFFIC (The Netherlands): 240 staff, 13 offices, $178m • China? • *Data from Daniel Guhr, Illuminate Group, August 12, 2009
Canada’s marketing effort? • About $2m per year for EduCanada branding, plus CEC network, DFAIT… and individual universities, colleges, other post-secondaries, etc.
QED: Canada is a small country! • In international education, as in so much else, Canada is indeed a small country, although perhaps verging on middling, with considerable logo recognition, virtually no profile or “brand”, yet a lot of respect and good feelings, but huge unrealized potential.