The Global Skills Opportunity was announced in 2020, before the pandemic (formerly known as the Outbound Student Mobility Pilot, OSMP), by the Federal Government as a part of Canada’s new International Education Strategy (YES).

Serving as an integral component of Canada’s COVID-19 recovery strategy, the GSO program aims to provide all Canadian post-secondary students with the opportunity to gain international learning and experience, focusing on widening access to underrepresented students – especially indigenous students from low-income backgrounds and students with disabilities.

The program is funded by Canada’s Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and is jointly administered through Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) and Universities Canada (UC).

The Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland is delighted to announce it has been selected as one of the recipients of the GSO funding through CICan (Official announcement can be found in The Gazette).

Through the program, Marine Institute (MI) students will have the opportunity to learn and experience the blue economy from a local and global perspective. Students will learn about ocean resources and how they can be utilized sustainably to promote economic growth and reduce the impacts of climate change.

At the same time, we will be building the students’ global and intercultural competence through virtual engagement and collaboration with our overseas partners. During the physical mobility component, MI will be taking students to MI’s partner institutions abroad to study and learn about coral reef ecosystems and their importance to various sectors of the blue economy as part of the student’s work-integrated and experiential learning.

See below for program updates and ways you can participate. If you want to find out more about this opportunity, please get in touch with the project coordinator:

Marlene Power, International Program Officer
Marlene.Power@mi.mun.ca

Note: Global Skills Opportunity program will be available for MI domestic students studying the diploma, certificate, bachelor’s degree, and advanced diploma programs.