Mumbai, India, February 28, 2026 – Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) President & CEO Pari Johnston, today, joined a Canadian government mission to India led by Prime Minister Mark Carney aiming to elevate and expand our economic and trade relationship and mutually beneficial educational and research ties between the two countries.
At a high-profile event today with Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and India’s Skills Minister Jayant Chaudhary, the mission marked the launch of a new Canada-India Talent and Innovation Strategy – led by Universities Canada with CICan – aiming to deepen relationships and strengthen people-to-people ties between the two countries, centered around education, research, and skills cooperation.
Through research collaboration, student exchange, and workforce training partnerships involving Canadian and India postsecondary institutions, government, and industry, the Strategy will embed Canadian expertise and capacity in India’s priority sectors and help translate knowledge and talent into workforce development and economic outcomes.
“Education, research, and skills cooperation are critical enablers of economic growth and trade diversification,” said Pari Johnston. “In Canada’s global engagement ambitions, its postsecondary sector is a strategic national asset and a committed global partner.”
In the pillar led by CICan, Canadian institutions – in collaboration with India’s Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship – will work together to develop a roadmap to establish national Centres of Excellence in sectors of mutual interest, such as artificial intelligence, critical minerals, and agri-tech.
Through these Centres of Excellence, partners will co-develop training models that are directly aligned with industry demand, modernize workforce development through technology-enabled and blended learning, and strengthen capacity in research and innovation, instructor training, and curriculum development.
The Centres of Excellence will be formalized with a Letter of Intent, signed by CICan and the Ministry, during an upcoming CICan-led college presidents’ mission to India from March 16-20 to meet with Indian government, private sector, and institutional partners and put today’s commitment into action.
Canada’s colleges and institutes are recognized around the world as premier providers of technical expertise in workforce development. The strategy will leverage that proven expertise to strengthen industry-aligned talent pipelines that support Canadian and Indian companies, to deliver applied research that generates tangible solutions to business challenges, and to ensure that our economic partnership creates benefit for both countries.
“We already work closely across provinces, territories, and regions – and with university partners – to serve our communities, to build a strong and prosperous future for the next generation, and to deliver on Canada’s people strategy for national missions. In today’s global context,” Johnston said, “through strategic and intentional collaboration, we can further leverage what our members do best to elevate and expand mutually beneficial relationships between Canada and India.”
This announcement is symbolic of a new era of strategic partnership between the two nations and provides important momentum for CICan’s upcoming mission.
By working together as a unified postsecondary sector, with government, and with partners in India and Canada, colleges and institutes will contribute to benefits for learners, entrepreneurs, workers and companies in both our countries for years to come.
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About Colleges and Institutes Canada
Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) is the national voice of Canada’s dynamic network of public colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, and polytechnics. By convening, mobilizing, and championing the sector, we amplify the value and impact of our members to advance priorities that matter most to Canadians. With more than 95% of Canadians living within 50 km of a member institution, and thanks to its extensive reach around the globe, CICan works to position colleges and institutes as key partners in meeting Canada’s – and the world’s – biggest challenges.
We respectfully acknowledge that CICan’s offices in Ottawa are located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation.
For more information
Matthew Smith
Director, Communications
Email: msmith@cican.org
Twitter: @CollegeCan