Episode #84: "Only 3% of Canadians Study Abroad — Here's What It Costs Us” with Larissa Bezo

What happens when the country with one of the world's strongest education brands spends two years changing the rules — 16, 17, 18 times? You get instability. Perception damage. And students looking elsewhere.

In this episode, Michael Sangster sits down with Larissa Bezo, President & CEO of the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), for a candid, wide-ranging conversation about the state of Canada's education system — where it broke, what it's costing us, and what it will take to rebuild.

Larissa doesn't pull punches. She explains why Canada's next decade must be defined by trust rather than growth, reveals that a startling 3% of Canadian post-secondary students study abroad (compared to far higher rates in Europe), and makes the case that every part of Canada's education ecosystem — from career colleges training personal support workers to research-intensive universities — has a unique and vital role to play.

She also shares the story of the mentor who helped build Medicare under Tommy Douglas, and how his belief in thinking decades ahead rather than in election cycles shaped her own approach to public service.

[00:03] — International Education at a Genuine Inflection Point

[00:07] — The Brand Damage Report: 16 Policy Changes in 2 Years

[00:09] — "Countries That Treat Students Transactionally Will Lose Them Relationally"

[00:12] — The 7-to-2 Warning: Canada's Workforce Cliff

[00:13] — A Career College Training Personal Support Workers in Kenya

[00:18] — The Mentor Who Helped Build Medicare

[00:27] — The 3% Wake-Up Call

[00:29] — What Policy Stability Would Actually Unlock

⁠Read the full transcript here: https://share.descript.com/view/ZMG1iLxsLFA

⁠Listen to past episodes here:www.edupcanada.ca‍ ‍