Speaking to, Avramis, the managing director of Beaver Immigration Consulting, said that Canada offers a three-year open work permit to foreign students following graduation.
The immigration expert said that Canada has a wide variety of institutions for foreign students – in excess of 10,000 programs. “A lot of South Africans we see are going into tech, coding, and software engineering college programmes.” Between 2015 and 2020 over 25,000 South Africans obtained either temporary status, permanent residency or citizenship in Canada. And between 2015 and 2019 there was a 67.3% increase in South Africans obtaining permanent residency and a 75% increase in the number of study permits.
The value of tertiary education to this segment, which is comprised of 12 million adults of 18 years and up, is clear. According to BrandMapp 2021, 70% have a tertiary education with 42% of them holding degrees. The remaining 30% may either still be studying or don’t have a reason to. “It’s worth drilling down into the BrandMapp data, and especially taking a closer look at the education channels that these ongoing learners think about. Not surprisingly, UNISA, the pioneer of South African distance learning, is an option of choice for 40% of these adults who want to study further,” said De Kock.