The college is one of several post-secondary institutions across Canada to be funded through a prestigious program to increase opportunities for students to study abroad. It was announced as a recipient for the 2025 Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarships program for work that will support climate resiliency.
“This a great opportunity for North Island College to promote international partnerships in post-secondary education while working toward responses to climate change that people here and around the world face,” said Mark Herringer, Executive Director, International Education, Office of Global Engagement at NIC.
NIC is among the 22 universities and colleges in Canada that will receive program funding. In all, the Queen Elizabeth Scholarships (QES) program provides $6.2 million to support work on adaptation, response and resilience in the face of a changing climate around the world.
The QES program is led by the Rideau Hall Foundation in collaboration with Universities Canada. It is a study abroad scholarship program, often geared toward longer study experiences but is applicable to project-based work as well. This latest round marks the first time colleges could apply.
NIC submitted its proposal last June and has successfully secured $300,000 over the next three years, starting April 1, 2025. The QES funding will support NIC’s program, Indigenizing the Climate Change Response: Fostering Inter-Cultural & Inter-Disciplinary Resiliency Through Study Abroad in Mexico and New Zealand.
With institutions applying from across Canada, the process was competitive, as Canadian universities and colleges submitted a range of environmental projects with partners in countries around the world.
Established in 2012, this QES funding has been awarded to more than 2,600 scholars from Canada and around the world, and with the latest round, the program has now supported 134 international projects in more than 80 countries.
Through its Office of Global Engagement, NIC offers students the chance to study abroad in different countries and in different ways, such as field schools or individual study opportunities. Some of NIC’s international projects are already focusing on climate resiliency.
In recent years, NIC had study abroad funding through a program called the Global Skills Opportunity, which was supported by Employment and Skills Development Canada but expires at the end of March. The new QES program will help replace the GSO funding, which has provided scholarships to 133 NIC students, 81 of whom were Indigenous. Many of the funded opportunities were short-term, though these also included long-term exchanges, such as one-semester and full-year programs.
