BCDI 2030 announces $3.25M in funding for 13 new projects aimed at strengthening vocational and technical training, and higher education in partner countries

We are pleased to announce the first 13 projects funded through the Canadian International Development Scholarships 2030 (BCDI 2030) program’s Stream 2 – Institutional partnerships. These collaborations will support ministries and educational institutions as they develop or improve programs that address partner countries’ priority socio-economic needs and strengthen learners’ employability.

Two types of funded projects

Eight training projects focused on employability: The development and delivery of employability and professional integration training for BCDI 2030 Scholars – individuals who receive scholarships to study in Canada – as well as the educational institutions to which they are affiliated.

Five institutional partnership projects: Collaborations between Canadian colleges and universities and higher education institutions, including advanced technical training, in Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Tunisia. These projects are tailored to meet the strategic priorities put forward by the partner countries.

Pan-Canadian collaboration

• Four projects led by Canadian universities
• Nine projects led by Canadian colleges
• Eleven collaborative consortia between Canadian post-secondary institutions, three of which are college/university consortia. 

Additional institutional partnership projects involving 22 other partner countries are planned. BCDI 2030 will be launching requests for proposals among Canadian colleges and universities in the next few weeks and months.

By 2030 the initiatives under BCDI 2030’s Stream of will train more than 6,400 teachers, administrators, and professional and technical staff from partner organizations. Each project aims to strengthen individual and institutional capacities, foster innovation and consolidate local expertise.

About BCDI 2030

BCDI 2030 supports Canadian universities and colleges in building meaningful, lasting partnerships with higher education institutions, ministries and civil society organizations in eligible countries. The training programs are developed in close collaboration with local partners to address national labour market needs and advance sustainable development.

BCDI 2030 is an eight-year, $80 million initiative funded by Global Affairs Canada and jointly administered by Colleges and Institutes Canada and Universities Canada, in partnership with the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) and the Association of African Universities (AAU). The program leverages higher education to drive social and economic development in 26 eligible countries.

Information about these new projects will be made available on the BCDI 2030 website in the coming weeks. For details about the BCDI 2030 Stream 1 projects already in operation please visit www.bcdi2030.ca/projects.

The 13 new projects will be delivered by the following institutions:

Employability training projects

For educational institutions partnering with scholarship programs in Canada:

Canadian higher-education institution(s)	Theme
Cégep de Saint Laurent in consortium with Collège Boréal	Student services and employability skills development
University of Waterloo	Internships and other forms of work-integrated learning
Université de Montréal in consortium with Collège Montmorency	Entrepreneurship

For BCDI 2030 scholars:

Canadian higher-education institution(s)	Theme
Fanshawe College in consortium with Collège Boréal	Developing and implementing a back-home plan
Université de Montréal	Self-knowledge and agency
University of New Brunswick in consortium with Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick	Leadership and women’s leadership
Cégep de Saint Laurent in consortium with Collège Boréal	Developing employability skills – Workshops
Collège Boréal in consortium with Fanshawe College	Entrepreneurship and women’s entrepreneurship

Institutional partnerships projects

Canadian higher-education institution(s)	International partner institution(s)
Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick in consortium with Cégep Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Cégep Gérald-Godin	Institut Supérieur de Biotechnologie de Sidi Thabet (Tunisia)
Saskatchewan Polytechnic in consortium with Cégep Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu	Centro de Formação Industrial Vitorino Costa (Guinea-Bissau)
Cégep Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in consortium with Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick	Instituto Nacional de Formação Técnica e Profissional (Guinea-Bissau)
Cégep Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in consortium with Université Laval	Universidade Amilcar Cabral (Guinea-Bissau)
Cégep de Jonquière in consortium with Collège Boréal and Cégep de Trois-Rivières	Lycée technique et professionnel de Fatick (Senegal)