Minister of International Trade Diversification Announces $148 Million Investment into the International Education Strategy

The Honorable Jim Carr, Minister of International Trade Diversification announces that the Government of Canada would be investing $147.9 million into the new International Education Strategy.

Saba Al Hammouri - 23 August 2019

Yesterday, the Honorable Jim Carr, Minister of International Trade Diversification announced at the University of Alberta that the Government of Canada would be investing $147.9 million into the new International Education Strategy. This investment will span five years, with $8 million per year in ongoing funding. The goal of this investment is to increase mobility both for incoming international students and outgoing study abroad participants.


According to the Minister, "this new strategy will benefit the economy by giving students and youth the opportunity to study abroad, gain valuable international experience and develop the skills they need to compete and win in the changing global market."


Paul Davidson, President, Universities Canada, and Alain Roy, Vice-President, International Partnerships at Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), were also present at the announcement to highlight some of the known elements of the International Education Strategy.


These elements include adding additional resources to speed up visa processing for international students, diversifying the source of international students, and most notably the introduction of a major new study abroad initiative to increase student mobility. This initiative will be delivered jointly by CICan and Universities Canada, with the aim of removing barriers to students who otherwise may not be able to go abroad.


As The Honourable Jim Carr states, the announcement is "an acknowledgement that we are enriched by [the] interaction between those values we share as Canadians, and those that we have adopted as Canadians from those [whom] we have welcomed from all around the world."

Read more on the announcement from other outlets:

Edmonton Journal
Folio