We Want Them, but We Will Not Support Them: A Comparative Study of Settlement Services Provided to International Students in the USA and Canada

In recent years, the number of international student’s to the USA has plateaued, with many International Students now choosing to migrate to Canada instead. Arguably, for its world-renounced education from leading post-secondary institutions, as well as possible pathways to Canadian citizenship. The Canadian government has also been quick to recognize the lucrative contributions of international students to the Canadian economy, even expanding immigration policies to create express pathways to citizenship for international students. Despite this, emerging research shows that international students find it difficult to adopt during their time in North America, and face challenges that can potentially hinder their long-term retention in Canada (Chevrier, 2019). Thus, using a comparative and integrative literature review, this research study assesses the structure of settlement service delivery, and current gaps that hinder the delivery of comprehensive settlement programs for international students in the USA and Canada. The findings of this review show that the American and Canadian governments have not taken an active role in supporting international students, and instead downloaded the responsibility of settlement service delivery to post-secondary institutions. Furthermore, privatization of services in America has been somewhat successful, while in Canada it has been largely unsuccessful. The implications of these research findings is that, if Canada wants to continue to retain its ISs population, it must ensure it is doing its part to support the short, and long-term resettlement and integration of international students into Canadian society.