North American, With a Difference TORONTO - Er Shun and Da Mao, the two giant pandas on loan from China that drew huge crowds when they were shown to the public this month at the Toronto Zoo, are also part of a role-playing exercise in a Canadian M.B.A. program. Stephen Weiss of the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, who is preparing a case study about the decade-long Canadian-Chinese negotiations for the loan of the pandas, told YFile, his university's online newsletter, that the negotiations "are ripe for study because they encompass a complex mix of diplomatic, legal, language and cross-cultural issues." Students form teams, with three taking the parts of Canadian zoo executives and three representing the Chinese partners. They must develop a framework for their relationship, deal with issues from a suggested agenda and draft an agreement. Dr. Weiss said his students loved the role-playing, particularly in an environment that is becoming increasingly diverse and multicultural. "Canadian business schools today are more international than they were 10 years ago at all levels: faculty, students and global partnerships," said Timothy Daus, executive director of the Canadian Federation of Business School Deans. "Canadian schools tend to be more international than U.S. schools," he said, referring to the student body. We're a small country, so we have no choice - we have to reach out. The Graduate Management Admission Council, the U.S.-based organization that administers the GMAT graduate school admissions test, said that 40 percent of prospective students outside North America had their test scores sent to Canadian schools as part of their applications in 2012. The five countries with the largest number of students interested in Canada were China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Nigeria. "Canada's universities are all public schools that meet provincial standards, so there is a basic quality level that attracts students," Mr. Daus said, adding that the number of international students was rising at business schools across the country. At the Ivey School of Business at Western University in London, Ontario, international students constitute about one-third of the incoming M.B.A. class. It is one of only four universities worldwide that use the case-based method of instruction exclusively. At the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, roughly half of the incoming M.B.A. class is from overseas. According to the Canadian Federation of Business School Deans, about 20 percent of students in Canadian M.B.A. programs are international; that number jumps to 46 percent for specialized business master's programs. Six institutions recently joined forces in February to form the Canadian M.B.A. Alliance to help attract international graduate students. According to Greg Yantz, director of M.B.A. recruiting and admissions at Ivey, the alliance's first focus will be the United States, followed by Asia, Latin America and Europe. "We feel that we can stand head to head with any top school in Europe, the United States and China," said Mr. Yantz. Western is working with York, the University of Toronto, McGill University in Montreal, the University of British Colombia in Vancouver and Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. We want to position ourselves as leaders in terms of international business. We are a small market, so we have to think globally," Mr. Yantz said. Université Laval is also recruiting students from abroad; but because it is in the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec, it targets different countries. "I would say that over all 15 percent of our students come from outside Canada, most from Francophone countries," said Issouf Soumaré, a business professor and the university's director of international relations. Most are coming from France, but we also have students from Morocco, Tunisia and sub-Saharan Africa. They want to experience the North American way of doing things. According to the Association of Colleges and Universities of Canada, 33 of Canada's 54 graduate business schools have M.B.A. programs; the others offer specialized degrees focusing on, for example, health services administration. "Canada is still largely an M.B.A. market, although the specialized programs are growing faster than in other places in the world," said Tracey Briggs, the director of media relations for the GMAC. Foreign students have the option of gaining local work experience. Graduates of one-year programs can stay and work legally in Canada for another year, while graduates of two-year programs can stay for three years. In some cases, graduates can stay indefinitely under the Canadian Experience Class program. "We want to accept the best talent out there," said Kevin Frey, managing director of the two-year M.B.A. program at the Rotman School of Management. Alfredo Suarez Alarcon, 33, and his wife, 32, both natives of Peru, studied together at Ivey and graduated in 2009. Four years later, they are still working in Canada and plan to stay longer. Mr. Suarez Alarcon is working in project management at TD Bank while his wife does merchandising strategy for WalMart. "We gave it some thought: either the United States or Canada," said Mr. Suarez Alarcon, who was initially trained as an industrial engineer. It has been worth it to go to Canada. Not only did we get a good education, but we had the opportunity to stay afterward and get some good international experience. Mr. Suarez Alarcon said that Canada allowed him the opportunity to be entrepreneurial outside the workplace. He is also one of the founders of the Latin American M.B.A. Alumni Network, known as Lamba. "It started between friends, but we decided, Why not found a network for all of us?" he said. It's good to be able to give back and allow people to connect with those who are having similar experiences. Ivey is also reaching out to foreign students in a different way, by expanding overseas. In 1998, it began offering an 18-month executive M.B.A. program at its Hong Kong campus. Each year, 30 to 35 executives with an average of 14 years of work experience are accepted into the program. Classes are held on the weekends so the students can continue with their careers. "It's fun seeing the students progress," said Loron Orris, regional director of the E.M.B.A. program for Ivey Asia. They're already strong executives, but we want them to get to the next level so they have more impact on their companies, more input into the community and more financial opportunities as well.