The number of international students studying in Ontario universities has grown each year by an average of 7% since the start of the 21st century, until it grew by more than 8% in 2011-12 and 9% cent in 2012-13. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of international students at Ontario universities almost tripled. In 2013-14, 10% of all university enrolments in Ontario were international students contributing just under $3 billion annually to Ontario's economy. The top five source countries of international students at Ontario universities are China, India, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Nigeria. International student enrolment at Ontario colleges is also growing, with a five-fold increase between 2000 and 2010.
Although tuition fees for domestic students are regulated by Ontario's provincial government, international student fees have not been regulated since 1996. As recently as the 1970s, there were no differential fees for international students in Ontario; however, as successive governments have divested from postsecondary education, institutions have used differential fees as a way to generate revenue. Today, international students thus pay, on average, 4.5 times more in tuition fees than domestic students.
In 1994, the Ontario government excluded international students from the Ontario Health Insurance Program (OHIP). International students studying at universities must enroll in a private health insurance program called the University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP), while many international college students are also required to purchase mandatory private health insurance plans.
Ontario's Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration, and International Trade recruits international post-secondary students as permanent residents through three Provincial Nominee Programs: the International Student With Job Offer Stream, the International Masters Graduate Stream, and the International PhD Graduate Stream.