The fate of nearly 800 Saudi Arabian students who were to attend Nova Scotia universities this fall appears uncertain at best.
“We currently have about 785 Saudi Arabian students in our universities in this province,” said Peter Halpin, executive director of the Association of Atlantic Universities.
“Clearly, any potential withdrawal of those students would have serious implications and would be of deep concern to our universities.”
The potential withdrawal of scholarships for students hailing from the desert kingdom in Western Asia stems from a diplomatic dispute between Ottawa and the sovereign Arab country. The spat arose when Canada’s Global Affairs Department tweeted opposition to the arrest and detention of two female activists and called on Saudi authorities to immediately set them free.
The Saudi foreign ministry complained that the wording of the tweet was an attempt by Canada to interfere in its internal affairs. Saudi Arabia said it would suspend future trade with Canada, sever diplomatic ties and expel the Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi officials also indicated that the country would cancel thousands of scholarships for students attending school in Canada and move the students to other countries.
Despite reports Tuesday afternoon that more than150 Saudi students at the University of Regina
were being told they have a month to leave the country, government and university officials across Canada seem uncertain whether the Saudi response is threat or reality.
“Dalhousie University values our Saudi students and their contributions to our community,” communications manager Janet Bryson said in an emailed response. “We are assessing the situation along with Universities Canada and our university colleagues across the country.”
As of March, Dalhousie had 212 Saudi students enrolled in a wide variety of programs, Bryson said.
“Although we don’t report on enrolment numbers until December of each school year, we are seeing similar numbers for the upcoming school year.”
Halpin said he didn’t have enrolment numbers for Nova Scotia universities at his fingertips but suggested that Dalhousie and Saint Mary’s would have the largest Saudi contingents in the province. Saudi Arabia is the second-largest source country of international students, behind China, at Nova Scotia universities, he said.
“Everyone is sort of in factfinding mode right now,” Halpin said. “I spoke with Universities Canada this morning and they are having fairly intense conversations with our own government right now about what this means and what the implications are.
“I think there is still a lot to be learned in the days ahead. We have to be careful that we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves, but certainly the students represent a significant cohort for our universties, so I am sure that all of our universities here in NovaScotia who have Saudi Arabian students are thinking of a future without them possibly.”
Halpin said many of the Saudi students would be enrolled in undergraduate programs and some would be attending Dalhousie medical school. He said being pulled from a program would be rough on students.
“I haven’t had the opportunity to speak to any of those students, but clearly it would. I think we are at the stage now where everyone is trying to learn much more about this threatened withdrawal.”
Halpin said he didn’t want to weigh into the political morass that kicked off the dispute between the two countries.
“It’s had the effect of getting the attention of all our universities and our government,” he said.
It has been estimated that nearly 20,000 Saudi students are studying in Canada and the economic spinoff is significant. Saudi Arabia was the sixth-biggest source of long-term international students in Canada in 2015, with 11,650 studying in Canada, according to a report prepared for Global Affairs.
Long-term foreign students spent an average of $35,100 per year, the report said.
There were also 5,622 shortterm students from Saudi Arabia, according to the report. The report says short-term students spent an average of $900 per week.