Indigenous 
St. Lawrence College (SLC) students will have more opportunities and assistance to study abroad next year thanks to funding from the Global Skills Opportunity (GSO), the Government of Canada’s outbound student mobility pilot program, which will enable more than 16,000 Canadian college and undergraduate-level university students from across the country acquire the global skills employers want and the Canadian economy needs.
"This is a wonderful announcement for our students. We are grateful to the Government of Canada and CICan for this funding as it will allow our students the opportunity to gain global knowledge and intercultural skills," said Glenn Vollebregt, SLC President and CEO. "As a college, we will be able to deepen our relationships with international partners and further our vision of being a globally recognized college."
For SLC, the $500,000 in funding will allow for up to 72 more students to participate in the GSO program which will run between 2021-2025. The College is working on three faculty-led programs to deliver in partnership with institutions globally.
At SLC, about 35 students each year have previously participated in two faculty-led programs, a Nursing elective course in Tanzania and a Tourism course in Costa Rica. These two courses are being redeveloped to be part of the GSO program. Also in development is an Entrepreneurship course at SLC’s partner, the Technological University of the Shannon in Ireland.
St. Lawrence College recently launched its Global Engagement Strategy, which called for enriched intercultural learning experiences, according to Shelley Aylesworth-Spink, SLC’s VP, International Education.
"This is an exceptional opportunity to reinforce our global citizenship. Building on the success of our existing partnerships, SLC will expand offerings to more students from underrepresented groups and integrate intercultural learning and intercultural competence assessment into more programs," she said.
While providing intercultural experiences to more students is an important part of college learning, finances and fear of travel can be limiting factors for some students, Aylesworth-Spink explained. "We’re hoping more students will be able to take part in global learning as a result of this funding."
"Study and work abroad programs are invaluable learning experiences that ensure students are culturally literate, resilient, adaptable and ready to succeed in an increasingly globalized world. This is perhaps more important than ever, which is why we are so proud to work with our partners to deliver Global Skills Opportunity. This groundbreaking program will allow more Canadian students to access these opportunities to develop the skills they need to gain a foothold in today’s global marketplace," said Denise Amyot, President, Colleges and Institutes Canada.
For more information on this project, please contact the International Office by email at international@sl.on.ca
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