Memorial University has been recruiting aggressively to attract students from beyond Newfoundland and Labrador. (CBC)

A Memorial University official is contradicting a recent Statistics Canada report that said the total number of university students in Newfoundland and Labrador has declined.

Statistics Canada said last week that between 2004 and 2009, enrolment in Newfoundland and Labrador declined by more than one per cent.

Memorial is the only university in the province.

Reeta Tremblay, Memorial's vice-president (academic), told CBC News that Statistics Canada's numbers are incomplete.

"As a matter of fact, both Statistics Canada and our data are quite similar," Tremblay said.

"The difference is that Statistics Canada's data stops at fall 2008. Our published data actually goes one year further along to the fall [of] 2009."

Tremblay said aggressive recruiting is attracting more national and international students to Memorial University.