In 1978, Carleton sponsored a refugee student from Zambia to come to Ottawa through the World University Service of Canada (WUSC). Since then, universities across the country have followed Carleton’s example and given many talented refugee students the chance of a better life in Canada.
The Student Refugee Program brings one refugee student to study at Carleton every year. The program pays for the students’ first year of tuition and living expenses.
This program costs every student about $1 a year as a levy and is also funded through university grants.
For $1 we turn around someone’s life. We get them out of a refugee camp and give them a running start at an education and career they would otherwise never see. Why not do this for more people?
These students must be registered as refugees, seeking asylum in a country other than their own, and pass through a rigorous selection process before being picked by WUSC. Because of this, the Canadian government then grants them permanent resident status.
Students coming through the program are highly motivated and do very successfully in their studies. They volunteer and contribute significantly to the campuses that sponsor them.
Although the first to do so, Carleton has since been surpassed by other universities, many of which sponsor more refugee students per year. The University of Ottawa, just across town, sponsors three.
We can and should bring more refugee students to Carleton.
This program is a cost-effective, efficient way of greatly enriching our campus community, while at the same time helping less fortunate students.
Carleton students have been giving a new life to a refugee every year for less than the price of a coffee. We can definitely do better.
