Prince George will be welcoming students from Bogota, Colombia in September.
A partnership between the Prince George School District and Colombia-based Travel and Education will see approximately 70 international students attending a month of classes in the city.
"We are able to provide a language experience that you cannot get in the Lower Mainland. If you come to Prince George you have to speak English, which isn't the case in many places," School district superintendent Brian Pepper said.
The students are aged 10 to 18 and will stay with host families while in Canada, he said. Visiting students will be distributed to schools throughout the district. Students will begin arriving in September and continue until January.
In addition to providing a cultural exchange, promoting Northern B.C. as a travel and business destination and boosting local business, the district is expected to generate $63,000 in fees from the international students.
"We don't see this as a business venture. [But] the incoming dollars are more than enough," Pepper said.
Pepper said the district was contacted in the fall by the company, which already had a partnership with a district in Manitoba, because it was looking to expand its offerings into B.C. Pepper and the principal of the Centre for Learning Alternatives went to Bogota in March and a Colombian delegation came to Prince George in April.
"They were very impressed and they indicated that we'd be their number-one placement location," Pepper said.
The goal will be to attract additional international students for longer-term stays, he added.
The district is projecting $231,000 in fees from international students next year, up from $123,300 in 2010-11.
"I'm not looking at this as an opportunity to supplement our budget," district chairman Lyn Hall said.
