13 New Partnerships between Indian and Canadian Universities
As part of new education-driven policies and a new bilateral talent approach between the two countries, Canada has announced a $100 million scholarship program aimed specifically at Indian students.
The creation of this new joint talent framework between India and Canada has made available to Indian students planning to study higher education in Canada generous scholarship opportunities, simplified education pathways, and customized hybrid campuses.
Early in the morning of March 2, 2026, the office of the Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement detailing the newly agreed-upon measures, which include:
• The University of Toronto can provide up to 200 fully funded scholarships to Indian students studying in Canada through the provision of $100 million funding.
• 13 new relationships between Indian and Canadian Universities were launched to encourage more study, student exchange and academic cooperation.
• Three new hybrid study locations were introduced in India:
- ·Cooperation between Dalhousie University, Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Tirupati created an innovation campus.
- ·University of Toronto’s Center of Excellence and the McGill University’s Center of Excellence both focused on directing Indian and Canadian expertise on Artificial Intelligence research and development.
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between India and Canada which is aimed at promoting cooperation and exchanges in performing arts, visual arts, music, books, entertainment technologies, and other creative fields between institutions in both countries.
In this talent strategy, 13 new MOUs have been formalized among different Canadian and Indian universities with the manifestation of mutual commitment to facilitate student and faculty exchange, collaborative research, and other collaborative processes.
Although most of the partnerships are still at the pre-phase, the broad outlines of these agreements have been outlined and vary between the partnerships:
|
Canadian university |
Indian university |
Details of MOU |
|
University of British Columbia |
O.P. Jindal Global University |
The agreement will: • Facilitate student and faculty exchanges • Support research collaboration between the two institutions |
|
Simon Fraser University |
O.P. Jindal Global University |
The agreement will:
|
|
University of the Fraser Valley |
Panjab University |
The agreement will: • Enable faculty and student mobility and exchanges • Support joint academic programming • Expand research exchanges/collaboration • Use a cohort-based model for student mobility |
|
Algoma University |
Parul University |
The agreement will: • Enable research collaboration • Promote student and faculty exchanges • Offer short courses/summer courses • Create multiple pathway agreements for eligible Parul School of Computer Science and Engineering students to transition into designated Algoma University programs |
|
Algoma University |
Chandigarh University |
The agreement will: • Broaden and deepen an existing partnership • Enable research collaboration • Promote student and faculty exchanges • Offer short courses/summer courses • Support multiple pathway agreements for eligible Chandigarh students from psychology, computer applications, and management departments to transition directly into designated Algoma University programs |
|
Dalhousie University |
SRM Institute of Science and Technology |
The agreement will: Support a Nursing Dual Degree Program that includes: • 25 Indian Nursing Council-approved supernumerary seats • Dual credentials (credentials from both institutions/program structures) • Embedded clinical experience in Canada • Explore a potential pathway to nursing practice in Nova Scotia |
|
Dalhousie University |
Indian Council of Agricultural Research |
The agreement will support: • Collaboration in digital agriculture • Collaboration in climate-resilient agriculture • Collaboration in horticulture • Collaboration in aquaculture • Collaboration in animal husbandry • A focus on joint research in the above priority areas • Support broader academic cooperation connected to these themes |
|
University of Guelph |
O.P. Jindal Global University |
The agreement will: • Facilitate student and faculty mobility for training and research |
|
Brock University |
O.P. Jindal Global University |
The agreement will: • Support faculty collaborations • Enable short three-year exchanges (through time-bounded exchange model) with a focus on areas such as: • Public health • Sports management • Business |
|
Royal Roads University |
O.P. Jindal Global University |
The agreement will: • Support faculty and student exchange |
|
Simon Fraser University |
Hydrogen Association of India |
The agreement will: • Facilitate collaboration with Indian academic and research institutes to: • Advance joint hydrogen research • Support innovation in hydrogen and related systems • Support technology development • Contribute to clean-energy solutions • Strengthen Canada–India academic partnerships in clean energy |
|
University of Toronto |
Indian Institute of Science |
The agreement will: • Support AI-focused collaboration in research and education • Deliver joint initiatives under the agreement • Involve the Temerty Centre for AI Research and Education in Medicine • Engage additional University of Toronto AI researchers to take part in joint initiatives |
|
University of Toronto |
Jio Institute |
The agreement will support: • Collaboration in AI programs • Collaboration in management programs • Student and faculty exchanges and collaboration |
Growing Momentum in Canada-India Educational Relations
These MOUs come after a large-scale visit of about 20 Canadian university presidents to India in February 2026, the biggest academic delegation that Canada has ever made to India.
Together, the breadth and pace of these agreements serve as evidence of the enhancing educational ties between Canada and India, shifting toward the occasional collaborations to more formal and enduring academic relationship between the universities and research organizations of both countries.
India remains among the highest country of origin of international students in Canada, and of new permanent residents, as well as forming a Canadian population of Indian origin estimated to be over 1.8 million.
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