Canada-CARICOM Leadership Scholarships Program

NOTE: This competition is closed. A new competition is expected to be announced in February 2011.

Background

The Canada–CARICOM Leadership Scholarships Program was announced in 2007 by Prime Minister Harper during a visit to the Caribbean. The program serves to enhance the skill sets required to advance the development and sustainability of CARICOM and seeks to strengthen institutional linkages between Canadian universities and colleges and those in the region.

The scholarships will focus on areas such as good governance, rule of law, democratic development, as well as develop skills required to enhance the regions’ prosperity through the pure and applied sciences (such as environmental science and information technology), economic and trade policy issues, teaching and other subjects specific to the needs of the regions.

Please note:
The Canada-CARICOM Leadership Scholarships Program is an extension of the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarships Programme and includes all member and associate member states of the Caribbean Community or CARICOM.

Structure

The Canada–CARICOM Leadership Scholarships Program is facilitated through student exchange agreements and institutional collaborations between Canadian and regional institutions. These agreements, the Graduate Student Exchange Program (GSEP) and the College & Undergraduate Student Exchange Program (CUSEP) are created between colleges, technical or vocation institutions and universities. Scholarship recipients remain registered as full time students in their home institution during this exchange.

Description

• Graduate Students Exchanges (GSEP) are hosted by Canadian institutions for a period of five or six months and provide up to $10,000 to cover transportation, living and other related expenses during the students’ stay in Canada.
• College and Undergraduate Students Exchanges (CUSEP) are hosted by Canadian institutions for a period of four months (or two full semesters where institutional linkages warrant) and provide $7,500 per semester to cover transportation, living and other related expenses during the student’s stay in Canada.

Student application process

Students interested in this scholarship program should contact their home institution to make their interest known, and to find out if there is an institutional collaboration or exchange agreement with a Canadian institution. The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) provides a database of international exchange agreements which, while not exhaustive, does provide a list of some existing agreements.

For college and university undergraduate exchanges, an agreement must be in place. The student’s professor/institution should contact the Canadian counterpart and arrange for the Canadian institution to submit an application on the student’s behalf.

Undergraduate students should initiate the process for transfer of credit with their home institution as soon as their Canadian courses have been identified.

At the graduate level, an exchange agreement is desirable. However, where no agreement yet exists, research applications by students which may result in a new collaboration between professors from a Canadian and foreign university will be considered.

Candidates must apply for Study Permit (for course work) or a Work Permit (for research) in order to ensure a smooth entry at the Canadian border and to receive the funds.

Interested students may also wish to contact alumni of the program through their home institution for advice and a local perspective on the experience.

Additional questions can be emailed to scholarships-bourses@cbie.ca