Canada's Visionary Education Tech sees more revenue from Chinese students

Visionary Holdings

17/05/2022 17:40

SHANGHAI, May 17 (Reuters) - Canada's Visionary Education
Technology Holdings Group said on Tuesday it expects to boost
tuition fees over the next few years largely from Chinese
students and hopefully earn more revenue from helping them and
their families emigrate to Canada.
    Canada has long been an attractive destination for Chinese
students, and interest could accelerate if more Chinese families
plan to move to North America, said Thomas Traves, chairman and
CEO of Visionary Group, whose shares  VEDU.O  debut on Nasdaq on
Tuesday.
    There have been signs that China's tough Covid policies,
which led to the lockdown of Shanghai and other cities, have
fuelled discontent with the government among some Chinese, and
led to a rise in emigration interest.     
    "I think that would be a good thing for us. So I'm happy if
that is true," Traves told Reuters.  
    "If there's a demand to look at other countries as a place
to live, then we'd be happy to see people come to Canada." 
    China has reaffirmed its commitment to a tough COVID-19
policy while Canada and many other countries have relaxed
restrictions. Since China locked down the city of Shanghai in
late March, emigration-focused chat groups have sprung up on
China's popular WeChat messaging app.
    Traves said Visionary Group's founders, who are Chinese
immigrants themselves, have a vision to bolster immigration of
students to Canada, and would take advantage of their deep
connections to recruit students from China.
    The company began its education business roughly two years
ago. It aims to recruit several thousand students over the next
couple of years, which "will ramp up our revenues very
substantially," Traves said. Revenue from the existing real
estate business would be stable, he added. 
    Traves said Canada has seen much greater demand recently
from China for either immigration and education, and he sees no
slowing down of that trend. 
    "We're just stepping into the middle of a fast moving river
... and we believe we have the opportunity now."

 (Reporting by Samuel Shen and Andrew Galbraith; Editing by
David Gregorio)
 ((samuel.shen@thomsonreuters.com;  +86 21 20830018; Reuters
Messaging: samuel.shen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))