Canadian universities have been increasing their marketing and recruitment efforts abroad to increase foreign student numbers and to give their campus a more international outlook.

A significant increase in recent years has come from American students, who are drawn to the significant cost savings in Canada over post-secondary education in the United States.

"Canadian universities are like hidden gems," says one American student at Dalhousie University in Halifax. "A lot of them are Ivy League-quality schools and they are just a lot less expensive."

Approximately 9,000 Americans studied at Canadian colleges and universities this year, up from 2,300 only 12 years ago. At McGill University in Montreal, the number of American students has risen by 22 per cent over the past five years. At Dalhousie, applications from American students are up 14 per cent this year.

Though Canadian tuition fees for international students are far more expensive than they are for local students, they are still tens of thousands of dollars less than the cost of private American universities and are comparable to the fees charged by state colleges to local students.

A representative of the University of Toronto attributes the tripling of applications from American students to economic and political factors, along with the value of the Canadian dollar and outreach efforts in cities such as Boston, New York, and Washington.

To study in Canada, international students are required to obtain a Canada Study Permit.