10 August 2009
Guadalajara, Mexico
Canada’s new Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP) was announced at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago in April, 2009.
The ELAP strengthens Canada’s engagement in the Americas, seeking to enhance prosperity and promote fundamental values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The program also helps to support and develop the next generation of leaders throughout the hemisphere.
ELAP scholarships consist of a short-term exchange, facilitated by inter-institutional linkages and a study tour component that introduces students to Canadian models and expertise in their areas of study. Once fully rolled out, the program will support up to 400 scholarships per year, seventy-five of which will be allocated to Mexico. Fifty-five Mexican students will be arriving in Canada in Fall 2009 under the program.
Funding for the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program is drawn from the annual contribution of over $1.25 million the Government of Canada makes to programs that facilitate academic mobility and study between Canada and Mexico.
Other Scholarship Programs
In addition to the ELAP, there also exists a long-running and reciprocal scholarship program with Mexico under the Government of Canada’s Foreign Government Awards program. Each year, 15 Canadian and Mexican students are eligible to pursue studies towards a Master’s degree in each others’ countries.
Last year, Canada launched the Georges Philias Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships to support up to 500 top Canadian and international doctoral students for study at Canadian universities. The new award is valued at $50,000 per year for up to three years and provides another opportunity for U.S. and Mexican doctoral students to study in Canada.
As a member of the Organization of American States (OAS), Canada offers scholarships to U.S. and Mexican students through the OAS’ Program of Scholarships and Training. These scholarships support human resource development in member states, strengthen bonds among the peoples of the Americas and promote inter-institutional linkages for sustained collaboration in academia and research.
The Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program operates on the principle of reciprocal exchange of scholars and provides the opportunity for the best Canadian and American scholars to lecture, research and study in the other country. The program aims to enhance studies of Canada and the United States and to encourage and broaden research efforts in the wide range of subjects pertaining to the relationship between the two countries. In 2008-09, close to 100 Canadian and American students participated.
