Canadian approaches to university internationalisation: Actors, activities and rationales

This project is a comparative case study of Canadian university internationalisation analysing selected activities of participants to determine which of four rationales - political, economic, academic, and social/cultural - are used to pursue internationalisation and whether consistency exists across provincial systems. Participants include provincial governments of Nova Scotia, Ontario, British Columbia, and a university within each, Dalhousie University, Wilfred Laurier University, and Simon Fraser University respectively. The Federal Government, Non-Governmental, and Intergovernmental Organisations activities are also reviewed for activities in internationalisation. Provincially, rationales are determined by organisational structure, key policies, funding, and programmes including recruitment and exchange initiatives. University rationales are assessed through organisational structure, policy and activities supporting student recruitment, curriculum, programming, and research. Results demonstrate varying provincial and university internationalisation rationales yet indicate a correlation in rationales between provinces and their universities. A model of government and university interactions is developed to conceptualise implications of government initiatives on university internationalisation.