Ottawa schools welcome foreign exchange students despite pandemic

As students in Ottawa settleback into in-person learning, some may find they have a new international exchange student for a classmate.

Hundreds of international students are studying at Ottawa's English public and Catholic schools this term despite tightening restrictions on international travel and growing fears of the spread of new, more transmissible variants of the coronavirus.

International student enrolment generates significant revenuefor the city's two biggest school boards, with tuition ranging from $7,000 per semester to $14,000 for a full school year.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) will welcome 79 new international studentsfrom 17 countries this semester to its high schools, spokesperson Darcy Knoll confirmed to CBC. They will join over 300 existing international students.

"We have been fortunate to welcome international students to our board over the years. Their presence in the OCDSB helps all students and staff to build global competence and become globally aware as they learn from one another," Knoll said. "All of the students have had to follow strict travel and quarantine guidelines for entry to Canada."

Their presence in the OCDSB helps all students and staff to build global competence.- Darcy Knoll, spokesperson for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board

The Ottawa Catholic School Board's (OCSB) manager for international recruitment, Jenny Perla, said 100 elementary and secondarystudents from 20 countries are currently participating in the board's international student program.

Ten of those students are studying virtually from their home countries, while the rest are studying in Ottawa classrooms.

Participating students at both boards are from a variety of countriesincluding Argentina, Brazil, China, Iran, Mexico, Spain and Vietnam. None isfrom the United Kingdom or South Africa, where two coronavirus variants that are causing particular concern were first identified.

"If we know that there's too much risk in a certain country ... we actually work closely with our international students and our international parents, and we register our students to our virtual academy where students can take these online credits," said Perla.

Exempt from travel ban

International students with study permits are exempt from a federal travel ban that restricts the arrival of foreign citizens and non-residents,and have been since March 2020.

Both school boards say incoming international students are subject to several layers of measures to ensure they don't have COVID-19 when they travel to Canada.

Knoll said all incoming international OCDSB students must submit a negative COVID-19 test taken 72 hoursbefore boarding theirflight to Canada. They must quarantine with their host family, after which they're required to test negative again before being allowed to set foot inside a school.

International students at the Catholic board are subject to similar requirements.

"If a student arrives with a family, OCSB has partnered with hotels where families do the 14-day quarantine," OCSB spokesperson Sharlene Hunter wrote in an email. "If the student arrives alone ... [they're]taken to a quarantine location."

Ottawa Public Health said it providesguidance to all schools, universities and colleges on their plans for international students, although the plans areapproved and regulated by the provincial government.

Staff member concerned

While the school boards say their programs are following public health regulations, one staff member at a public high school said she was appalled to learn the board is stillaccepting international students.

The staff member, who was granted confidentialityto protect her from retribution for speaking publicly, said encouraging foreign arrivals sends a message to families, students and staff that the measures they're taking to keep schools safe don't apply to everyone.

"We've just seen our government clamp down on international travel, and here we are having these international students come into our schools," said the staff member."Having all of these students then come in is telling their students that, 'Oh, maybe that isn't such a big deal. If you are a person of privilege who can afford to pay the school board this money to come, then it's OK to do that.'"

In its 2020-21 budget, the OCDSB estimated it would suffera net loss of $2.9million due to lower student enrolment because of COVID-19.

Perla said revenue was not a major factor when deciding whether to continue with the international exchange program at the Catholic board.

"Revenue isn't really the reason we're in the business," she said. "The reason we're more in the business of international education is the impact it [has] and how it enriches our classroom."