Canadian enthusiasm for engaging Asia is decreasing and our concerns about China in particular are increasing says a new study which concludes that there needs to be national strategy to improve our Asian competence.

The number of Canadians who think that we are actually part of the Asia Pacific region has shrunk, down to a discouraging 18 per cent from last year’s very modest 29 per cent recent polling by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada showed.

This explains why we aren’t hearing more political leaders encouraging us to prepare for an Asia-centric future said a task force report released by Foundation and the Munk School of Global Affairs which calls for Canada to take a whole-of-country approach to ensuring that more Canadians gain exposure to, experience in and expertise on Asia.

The study said that although Canadians are increasingly convinced that Asia is important to us, we are not at all convinced that a changing world order requires changes from us, too. 

Although the percentage of Canadians who accept the modest proposal of putting more content about Asia in the curriculum has now grown to 50 per cent, a stunning 58 per cent oppose putting more emphasis on Asian languages in the school system.

When it comes to Asian language training at the primary and secondary levels, we found only scattered pockets of activism, notably in Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto. But even this is largely focused on Mandarin, and is strongly linked to the dedication and commitment of parents of Chinese heritage.

This stands in sharp contrast to national efforts being mounted in Australia and New Zealand, countries that are working hard to prepare their young people to compete and succeed in a changing world. 

The report, Canada’s Asia Challenge: Creating Competence for the Next Generation of Canadians, looks at what Canada is doing, where it is falling short and how it can draw lessons from other countries’ experiences. It makes specific recommendations on strengthening these three pillars of ‘Asia competence,’ and stresses the urgency of governments, private sector leaders and educators to do more to prepare young Canadians for an increasingly Asia-centred world.

“We are very encouraged by the recommendations coming out of this task force,” said Janice Stein, Director of the Munk School. 

Yuen Pau Woo, President and CEO of APF Canada, added, “Canadian ambitions for deeper and stronger economic ties across the Pacific will not be realized unless there is an investment in Asia skills across the country.”

“While we identified some significant ‘islands of progress’ within Canada, we found that these efforts are too small-scale and ad hoc to have the kind of transformative effect that Canada needs,” said David Mulroney, Distinguished Fellow with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs.

The report also found that Canada is lagging behind other countries in promoting Asia competence. For example, only 3% of Canadian university students participate in study abroad programs. In Australia, the participation rate is twice as high, and in Germany it reaches 30%.

Both the United States and Australia have launched high-level initiatives to help their citizens gain experience in Asia: in 2009, US President Barack Obama announced support for the 100,000 Strong Initiative to rapidly increase the number of American students studying in China; and in 2012, the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper prioritized building that country’s “Asia capabilities.”

In contrast, a recent APF Canada poll showed that 60% of Canada’s Asia practitioners have difficulties finding Canadians with sufficient knowledge about that region.

The report’s key recommendations include:

Establishing an annual national conference to serve as a mechanism for sharing best practices. Alberta, as a province that has demonstrated an impressive commitment to Asian language training and internships in Asia, would be an ideal host of the first conference in 2014.

Ensuring that Canada’s international education strategy is a two-way effort. In recent years, both the federal and provincial governments have focused heavily on attracting students to Canada, with little high-level leadership and endorsement to encourage more Canadians to get experience overseas.

Encouraging governments, as well as the private sector in key economic sectors, to strengthen their Asian know-how by involving Asia-experienced Canadians in strategic advisory boards, industry associations and corporate boards.

Examining ways to support and replicate successful community-led initiatives.

“Now is the time to build a nationwide strategy to help Canadians gain the skills and knowledge that they will need to be competitive in the Asia century,” said Janet De Silva, Dean of Ivey Asia and co-chair of the task force, “Canada is well-positioned in terms of its economy and business relations to see more success in Asia,” she added, “but to realize this success we have an urgent need to develop our human capital and Asia know-how.”

The Task Force on Asia Competence was created as part of APF Canada’s National Conversation on Asia (NCA). The report was developed through high-level consultations with different sets of stakeholders in the public, private and education sectors in Coquitlam (BC), Edmonton, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. The NCA is an initiative aimed at getting Canadians thinking and talking about what Asia means to Canada.

 

 

Living in a more Asia-centric world

 

• Asia is expected to account for half of global GDP by 2050 

 

• China could surpass the US as the world’s largest economy as early as 2020

 

• China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner (after the US)

 

• Southeast Asia represents a market of 600 million people, larger than the population of the European Union

 

• The Philippines recently became the largest source of immigrants to Canada

 

• China is the new number one tourism source market in the world

 

• China, South Korea and India are Canada’s three largest sources of international students