Global Skills Opportunity makes international learning experiences more accessible to Canadian post-secondary students.
Through the program, more than 11,000 Canadian students – especially those for whom such experiences have traditionally been less accessible – will acquire the global skills employers want and the Canadian economy needs.
With funding from Global Skills Opportunity, colleges, institutes, and universities offer study and work opportunities abroad for Canadian students that will ensure they come back culturally literate, resilient, adaptable, and ready to succeed. The program helps institutions increase their capacity to deliver safe, enriching, and accessible international study and work abroad opportunities.
The program also diversifies the destination countries where students can pursue opportunities and tests innovative approaches to reducing barriers to working and studying abroad.
Global Skills Opportunity is administered jointly by Colleges and Institutes Canada and Universities Canada, is a key component of the Government of Canada’s International Education Strategy, and is funded by Employment and Social Development Canada.
Innovation Projects
In October 2020, we asked our members to propose mobility-focused innovation projects to fund through the pilot’s Innovation Fund. In total, we provided funding to 47 colleges and institutes to implement 69 projects, including piloting virtual mobility, testing new wrap-around support services, developing risk management policies, enhancing recruitment strategies, and developing new institutional partnerships.
Mobility Projects
In an increasingly globalized world, study and work abroad programs are invaluable learning experiences that ensure students are culturally literate, resilient, adaptable, and ready to succeed. Over four years, 54 colleges and institutes and 56 universities are implementing a total of 124 GSO-funded projects in collaboration with international partners in over 100 countries.
