August 15, 2012–The Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences welcomes the recommendations made in the report released yesterday from the Advisory Panel on Canada’s International Education Strategy.
"Canada’s prosperity depends on our ability to be fully engaged in the diplomacy of knowledge and to be a leader in the global race for talent and innovation,” said Graham Carr, president of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. “Building on the panel’s recommendations will help ensure the best students, researchers and institutions in the world consider and choose Canada, that many Canadian students gain valuable international exposure, and that we forge and build lasting international ties that will benefit all sectors of our society.”
Among its recommendations, the advisory panel has called for doubling the number of international students and for 50,000 Canadian students to study abroad, improving policy coordination, and the development of comprehensive bilateral agreements, along with appropriate funding to support them. This aligns with CFHSS’s recommendations in the 2013 pre-budget process, calling for strengthened research collaborations between academic institutions, not-for-profit organizations and governments abroad in order to build thriving knowledge networks and economic partnerships.
In particular, Canada should take advantage of the existing knowledge and networks of social sciences and humanities researchers, and the government should leverage this community’s expertise. Well-placed to help Canada harness global opportunities, social sciences and humanities students and scholars constitute a natural gateway for Canada to become a leader in international education and the diplomacy of knowledge.
CFHSS looks forward to working with all higher education partners and the government to move the international education strategy for Canada forward.
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Media inquiries:
Mélanie Béchard
Communications Officer
Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
613.238.6112 ext. 330
mbechard@fedcan.ca