Canada-CARICOM Leadership Scholarships Program

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$7,200 CAD – $14,700 CAD

Deadline: May 1, 2017 (Submissions currently closed)

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Who's Eligible

Candidates must be citizens of one of the following eligible CARICOM countries:

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos.

Listen to what it was like for this Bahamian Student to live and study in Canada.

Andy, who is from Nassau, studied at the University of New Brunswick, received a scholarship and got work experience as he studied. Find out more about how he did it.

Overview: The Canada-CARICOM Leadership Scholarships Program provides students and researchers from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) with short-term exchange opportunities for study or research, in Canada, at the college, undergraduate and graduate levels.

The Canadian institution must apply.

The Canada-CARICOM Leadership Scholarships are facilitated through institutional collaborations and student exchange agreements between Canadian institutions and institutions in the CARICOM. These agreements are created between colleges, technical or vocational institutions and universities. Students or researchers, hereby referred to as “candidates”, remain registered as full-time students in their home institution during this exchange.

 Up to 100 scholarships are awarded every year for a total of over 650 scholarships since 2007.

Scholarship offered by The Government of Canada- International Scholarships Canada

Candidates:

  • who have obtained Canadian citizenship or who have applied for permanent residency in Canada are not eligible;
  • already participating in an exchange scholarship program funded by the Government of Canada are not eligible;
  • already enrolled in a degree or diploma program at a Canadian university or college are not eligible; and
  • must be enrolled full-time at a post-secondary institution in an eligible country and paying any tuition fees regulated by that institution for the full duration of the exchange.

Guidelines

The Canada-CARICOM Leadership Scholarships are facilitated through institutional collaborations and student exchange agreements between Canadian institutions and institutions in the CARICOM. These agreements are created between colleges, technical or vocational institutions and universities. Students or researchers, hereby referred to as “candidates”, remain registered as full-time students in their home institution during this exchange.

Canadian post-secondary institutions

Canadian institutions are:

  • responsible for submitting applications on behalf of eligible candidates from institutions in CARICOM member states; and
  • encouraged to promote this scholarship opportunity to faculty and staff members, as well as to partner institutions in the CARICOM.

Canadian institutions with successful candidates:

  • should identify a single person responsible for the administration of the contribution agreement and another person with delegated signing authority; and
  • will receive contribution funding from Global Affairs Canada to disburse as scholarships to recipients.

Non-Canadian candidates

Candidates interested in this scholarship program should contact their home institution to:

  • make their interest known;
  • find out if there is an existing institutional collaboration or exchange agreement with a Canadian institution; and
  • request information about the application process and selection criteria specific to the Canadian institution.

Selected candidates are encouraged to:

  • ensure that they fulfill the requirements of the Canadian institution including academic requirements and language proficiency;
  • initiate the process for the transfer of credits to their home institution as soon as their Canadian courses have been identified;
  • follow the procedures of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada as outlined by the Canadian institution (generally a study permit is required for course work and a work permit is required for research); and
  • contact alumni of the program through their home institution for advice and a local perspective on the scholarship experience.

Non-Canadian institutions

Non-Canadian institutions are encouraged to:

  • communicate with partner institutions in Canada to confirm or explore institutional collaborations and student exchange agreements;
  • promote this scholarship opportunity through their international offices;
  • identify strong candidates who meet the admission requirements for the Canadian partner institution;
  • provide the candidates’ names to the Canadian partner institution, which is responsible for submitting the scholarship applications; and
  • propose to selected candidates to gain additional linguistic training, academic upgrading and cultural preparedness before their departure.

Scholarship Value and Duration

Funding for Canada-CARICOM Leadership Scholarships is made available by Global Affairs Canada through its legal title: the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD).

The Canadian institution will receive funding from DFATD for all successful candidates (students and researchers) in the form of a contribution agreement and will be responsible for providing the funds to scholarship recipients.

The scholarship value varies depending on the duration and level of study. The scholarship value for students is:

  • $7,200 CAN for college, undergraduate or graduate (Master’s and PhD) students for a minimum of four months or one academic term of study or research;
  • $9,700 CAN for graduate students (Master’s and PhD) for a period of five or six months of study or research; or
  • $14,700 CAN for undergraduate and college students for a period of eight months of study or research.

In addition to the funds allocated to the recipients by DFATD, the Canadian host institution may also claim $300 CAN per scholarship recipient to assist with administrative costs once the scholarship recipient arrives in Canada.

Eligible expenses

Canadian institutions will disburse scholarship funds to the scholarship recipient to contribute to the following costs:

  • visa and/or study/work permit fees;
  • airfare, for the scholarship recipient only, to Canada by the most direct and economical route and return airfare upon completion of the scholarship;
  • health insurance;
  • living expenses;
  • ground transportation expenses, including a monthly bus pass; and
  • books and supplies required for the recipient’s study or research, excluding computers and other equipment.

Payment Procedure

Subject to the terms and conditions of the Contribution Agreement, funding will be disbursed by a cheque issued to the Canadian institution upon receiving the following documents:

  • the Contribution Agreement signed by both the designated authority at the Canadian institution and the designated authority at DFATD; and
  • a Cash Flow Statement submitted by the Canadian institution to coincide with the arrival of the scholarship recipients to Canada.

Funds will be disbursed to the scholarship recipients according to the Canadian institution’s internal processes and in conformity with the Contribution Agreement concluded between DFATD and the Canadian institution.

The Canadian institution will retain proof of scholarship payments to the recipient(s) and other documents required as further outlined in the Contribution Agreement concluded between DFATD and the Canadian institution.

Should a recipient not take up the scholarship, all funds, including the administrative fee, must be returned to DFATD through the scholarship program administrator, the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE).

Terms and Conditions

The following terms and conditions must be met during the period of the scholarship.

The Canadian post-secondary institution:

  • must be recognized by its provincial or territorial government;
  • must waive tuition and/or academic fees for selected students and researchers, as scholarship recipients must be registered full-time and paying tuition to their home institution;
  • must inform both the candidate and their home institution of any mandatory fees that, in exceptional cases, cannot be waived, prior to applying for a scholarship on the candidate’s behalf;
  • must enter into an agreement with the recipient stating that:
    • funding for the scholarship is provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD);
    • the recipient must provide the Canadian institution with records to account for major expenses such as travel and lodging; and
    • the recipient agrees to have their contact information shared with DFATD, for reasons such as: to be invited to join the Government of Canada Scholars’ Alumni Association (GCSAA), to attend events organized by the Canadian Embassy or High Commission in their home country and by DFATD in Canada, or for promotional and statistical purposes; and
  • will be required to provide qualitative and quantitative reports during the scholarship period.

Scholarship recipients:

  • must engage in full-time studies or research as defined by the Canadian institution (English and French language studies/Linguistic training are excluded);
  • in pharmacy, medicine, dentistry or other health fields are excluded from clinical training or clinically-oriented research involving direct patient-care;
  • must be proficient in the language of instruction at the Canadian institution (English or French) before their arrival in Canada;
  • may not hold any other scholarship granted by the Government of Canada;
  • enrolled in courses must arrive in Canada by September for the fall semester or by January for the winter semester;
  • conducting research must arrive in Canada for the uptake of their award between June 1, 2017 but no later than February 1, 2018. Failure to arrive during this time may result in the cancellation of the scholarship. In exceptional cases, and with prior approval from DFATD, the arrival deadline may be extended to March 1, 2018; and
  • must ensure that they have appropriate health insurance for the full duration of the scholarship, as per the policies of the Canadian institution.

Important information:

  • For college and undergraduate applications, a written institutional collaboration and student exchange agreement or memorandum of understanding between the Canadian institution and the candidate’s home institution must be in place at the time of application.
  • For graduate applications, an inter-institutional agreement is desirable but not mandatory. If there is no existing exchange agreement, graduate applications which involve a new or established collaboration between professors from a Canadian institution and the candidate’s home institution will be accepted.
  • Applications submitted directly by a candidate or their home institution will not be accepted.
  • Scholarships cannot be deferred and are not renewable.
  • Priority will be given to candidates who have not previously received a scholarship under the Canada-CARICOM Leadership Scholarships Program, the Canada-CARICOM Faculty Leadership Program, the Canada-Chile Leadership Exchange Scholarship or the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program.
  • Scholarships are not taxable for either the Canadian institution or the scholarship recipient.

Application Process

The Canadian institution must apply on behalf of the candidate(s) by submitting the online application form and uploading all supporting documents prior to the deadline. Institutions may submit multiple applications and may be asked to rank their applications, based on their strategic priorities. A single person should be responsible for the administration of the program. Canadian faculty or staff members who are submitting an application must notify the person responsible for the administration of the program at their respective institution as the institution may be requested to rank multiple applications.

Canadian institutions are encouraged to carefully read the instructions below before beginning the online application. Further information is available on the International Scholarships Canada Application Tool Help webpages.

If institutions experience difficulty filling out or submitting the form, they should send an email to admin-scholarships-bourses@cbie.ca.

Canadian institutions must:

  1. Complete an online application for each candidate.
    • Institutions which do not have an account first need to Register an account.
    • Under “For Non-Canadians” section, scroll down to the Canada-CARICOM Leadership Scholarships Program and click on Apply Now.
  2. Enter data in the fields marked mandatory, following instructions for each item, or copy and paste it from another source. Note that:
    • the name of the candidate must be the same as it is on their passport; and
    • the official name of the candidate’s home institution must be provided in their national language.
  3. Upload all required supporting documents.
  4. Upon completion, verify the data prior to submission.
  5. Print the form for their records using the print function in the browser.
  6. Click SUBMIT to send the form electronically to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD). The institution will receive a confirmation message and reference number once the form is submitted.

NOTE: Institutions will have the ability to save applications and complete them at a later time. Both saved and submitted applications will appear on the institution’s profile homepage.

Supporting Documents

The following documents must be uploaded and attached to the online application form in one of the following formats: .pdf, .jpg, .doc, .docx, .txt or .gif. Each document must be smaller than 5 MB in order for the application to upload successfully.

  • Proof of citizenship: a copy of the candidate’s passport or national identity document with valid dates. Note: a driver’s licence, permanent resident card, student card or baptism certificate is not accepted as proof of citizenship.
  • Proof of full-time enrolment: a letter in English or French from the home institution, on official letterhead, dated within the last six months, confirming that the candidate is currently enrolled in a full-time program and will continue to be enrolled upon their return and providing the expected completion date of the degree. Note: copies of transcripts, a student card or letter of admission are not acceptable (maximum one page).
  • Letter of intent from the candidate: a letter in English or French from the candidate describing the nature of their research or studies to be undertaken and explaining the rationale for study in Canada and for the choice of institution, the program and the supervisor. The candidate must also indicate how the proposed program of study or research will relate to their future career (maximum one page).
  • Letter of support from the home institution: a letter in English or French from the candidate’s instructor, professor or international director on the home institution’s official letterhead explaining the nature of study and how the candidate and the home institution will benefit from this scholarship program (maximum one page).
  • Letter of invitation from the Canadian supervisor: applications for graduate students must include a letter from the Canadian supervisor indicating their willingness to support and mentor the candidate. This letter must be on institutional letterhead, be signed and demonstrate support for the candidate during the exchange period and demonstrate how the Canadian institution, supervisor and peers will benefit (maximum one page).
  • Signed copy of Memorandum of Understanding or Agreement with the partner institution: a written agreement or understanding, in English or in French, signed by both institutions indicating that tuition fees will not be charged and containing any other clauses of mutual interest. Note: a signed copy of this document is mandatory for undergraduate and college applications. For graduate applications, if the exchange is made under a signed agreement, it is strongly suggested that it be included with the application.
  • Privacy Notice Statement: a copy of the Privacy Notice Statement for non-Canadian participants signed by the candidate.

Selection Process

The following guidelines are followed for the review, assessment and selection of applications:

  • All online applications received by the deadline will be pre-screened to ensure they meet eligibility requirements established for the program.
  • Eligible and complete applications, including the supporting documents, will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
    • merit of the proposed research or study that the student will undertake in Canada;
    • benefit to the home institution, supervisor and peers;
    • benefit to the Canadian institution, supervisor and peers; and
    • strength of the linkages to be created through the proposed exchange.
  • Should there be a larger number of applications than funding available, the Canadian institution will be asked to rank its eligible applications based on its institutional strategic priorities.

Conditions

Only applications submitted directly by Canadian institutions will be considered.

The scholarship administrator is not able to provide feedback for unsuccessful candidates.

These scholarships are subject to the availability of funding from the Government of Canada.

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