College launches humanitarian program for student refugees

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on October 5, 2022.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman International students gather at the centre court during their studies at Lethbridge College.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge College is finding new ways to help international students gain access to education, as part of a commitment made to the Colleges and Institutes Canada (CIC).

“It started as a promise to CIC to show support for students who were affected by the invasion of Ukraine and then our donor was gracious enough to open it up to anyone that was affected by any kind of conflict,” said Chiye Kinjo, international services manager at Lethbridge College.

She said the Humanitarian Program is the result of multiple departments working together to find a way to support international students. Kinjo said she worked with various departments over the summer to develop the program and due to the quick turn around they are still ironing out some details.

She added that they came up with a program to offer financial assistance, since that is the one area where international students struggle the most.

“For a lot of our international students their financial support comes from their families, and for some of them, conflict in their country was affecting their families’ ability to support them,” said Kinjo.

She said they already helped two students over the fall semester, but the idea is to help up to 10 students throughout the academic year.

“We have awarded two students with the domestic tuition rate, so we’re hoping that will support their time here, and we will open the program at the beginning of the winter for the winter semester and if we have any students for the spring, it will just be a continuous program that we will have in place,” said Kinjo.

She said that thanks to the generous support of local philanthropist Steve Meszaros, they will be able to cover the cost of tuition and books for two international students per academic year from the group of up to 10 students that qualify for the domestic tuition rate.

To be considered for Humanitarian Program support, international students must provide documentation proving a pending refugee claim, a pending claim for permanent residency status under humanitarian or compassionate grounds, official notice confirming Protected Persons status, or documentation demonstrating they qualify under special measures by the Government of Canada such as Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET). 

Eligible students must be in Canada on a study permit and enrolled at the college full-time. Applicants will also be asked to submit a brief essay on their aspirations and how Lethbridge College can help them achieve their goals.

Awards will be given to those who demonstrate the greatest financial need, including those who are in Canada on government sponsorship.

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