Student Refugee Program

How successful referendums across Canadian campuses are creating opportunities for young refugees to access post-secondary education

All of Gabriel Ndayishimiye’s hard work over the past few years has recently paid off. This summer, he graduates with a B.A. Honours degree in globalization studies from Huron University in London, Ontario. Originally from Rwanda, Gabriel came to Canada in 2016 through the Student Refugee Program. He will be attending Columbia University in September…

In November 2019, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and WUSC (World University Service of Canada) brought together stakeholders with an identified interest or active engagement in developing education opportunities for refugees as complementary pathways for admission in third countries. The two-day international conference…

WUSC’s Student Refugee Program (SRP) transforms the lives of many — especially formerly sponsored students. After their studies, formerly sponsored students (or SRP alumni as they are known) have gone on to do many diverse things in Canada and globally. These range from ordinary — working and supporting a family — to extraordinary — playing…

By: Arianne Leclerc, Local Committee alum, and Rhoda Philip, SRP alum Recently, WUSC representatives took part in the second annual event: Engaging Student Voices to Support the Global Compacts, held by the University Alliance for Refugees and at Risk Migrants UARRM at the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Student leaders, policy makers, practitioners, and post-secondary education leaders came…

Today, there are more refugees in the world than at any other time in history. The scale of displacement and the duration of displacement is also consistently increasing – from 43.3 million in 2009 to 70.8 million in 2018, a record high – according to UNHCR. WUSC is committed to supporting solutions and increasing the…

Introducing the new INEE Guidance Note on Gender by Nora Fyles & Dean Brooks This blog post was originally published by the Global Partnership for Education. As civil war engulfed her home country Somalia, eight-year-old Fatuma fled with her family to Dadaab, Kenya, site of one of the world’s largest refugee camps. With the support…

Every August, for the last four decades, WUSC community members have gathered at airports across the country. Together, with banners and smiles, they welcome newly arriving SRP students.  This year, 123 students arrived to start their new lives in Canada, where they will be empowered to continue their post-secondary studies in safe and supportive environments.…

Welcoming former refugees at airports across the country each August marks a significant milestone for our Student Refugee Program. Each student that arrives to begin their post-secondary education journey in Canada reflects the culmination of months of hard work among our Local Committee network and school administrations, and the generosity of our donors to create more…

Commissioned as a background paper for the development of the 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report, Migration, displacement and education: Building bridges, not walls report, the paper Higher Education for Refugees written by Martha K. Ferede in 2018, provides a critical global overview of refugee access and participation in higher education.  Higher Education for Refugees outlines the barriers refugees face at…