Hundreds of Humber College students will develop global skills through two newly launched projects made possible by the Government of Canada’s Global Skills Opportunity program, valued at $1 million from 2021 to 2025.

"Participating in the Global Skills Opportunity program will build on Humber’s award-winning international activities and internationalization strategy. These life-changing study and work abroad experiences offer students the chance to make a difference around the world,” said Gina Antonacci, senior vice-president, academic, Humber College. "International academic and work-integrated learning initiatives are critical to carrying out Humber’s mission to develop career-ready global citizens with the knowledge and skills to lead and innovate. We are grateful for the opportunity to engage with our global partners as we launch these meaningful projects.”

The newly launched projects are:

• Global Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing & Co-Learning: This project will provide students with an immersion opportunity to complete academic credit courses on sustainability and bi-culturalism co-guided by Indigenous elders and knowledge holders at Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand and Humber College in Canada. The Etuaptmumk approach engages Indigenous and non-Indigenous students as equal partners in the learning process, valuing all ways of being, knowing and doing.  
• Storytelling for Social Change: This project will equip students to be community changemakers through social impact storytelling drawn from their global learning experiences and rooted in their lived narratives of sustainability plus equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Centred in social justice principles and Indigenous storytelling practices, students will undertake co-curricular training on ethical approaches to storytelling before, during and after their study and work experiences abroad. The project will strengthen participants’ EDI mindset and Humber Learning Outcomes skills such as critical thinking, communication, and digital literacy.

Global Skills Opportunity is a national outbound student mobility program that is expected to enable more than 16,000 Canadian college and undergraduate-level university students from across the country to acquire the global skills employers want and the Canadian economy needs. A key component of the Government of Canada’s International Education Strategy, Global Skills Opportunity is funded by Employment and Social Development Canada and is administered jointly by Colleges and Institutes Canada and Universities Canada. 

While open to all Canadian post-secondary students, the national program targets groups for whom international experiences have traditionally been less accessible — specifically Indigenous students, students from low-income backgrounds and those with disabilities. It also aims to diversify destination countries where Canadian students pursue international learning. 

Compared to similar countries, fewer Canadian students – only about 11 per cent of university undergraduates and three per cent of college students – participate in work or study abroad experiences during their studies. The new program stands to change that. By empowering post-secondary institutions to implement innovative solutions to barriers to participation, Global Skills Opportunity will expand the horizons of Canadian students from coast to coast, and improve Canada’s competitiveness on the world stage.  

“Study and work abroad programs are invaluable learning experiences that ensure students are culturally literate, resilient, adaptable and ready to succeed in an increasingly globalized world. This is perhaps more important than ever, which is why we are so proud to work with our partners to deliver Global Skills Opportunity,” said Denise Amyot, president, Colleges and Institutes Canada. “This groundbreaking program will allow more Canadian students to access these opportunities to develop the skills they need to gain a foothold in today’s global marketplace.”

The Student Wellness and Accessibility Centre (SWAC) will be holding Flu Vaccine clinics for Humber College and Guelph-Humber faculty, staff and students who are working or learning on campus, as well as students who live in residence.

Appointments are required to ensure physical distancing. To book an appointment, please access this link Book My Flu Shot.

Flu Clinic Hours & Locations

All individuals will be screened prior to entering the clinic and will need to wait for 15 minutes after their vaccination for observation. Appointments for flu shots will continue to be available in the days and weeks ahead, while supplies last. Please read the Flu Vaccine Information document for more information about the Influenza Vaccine.

Enhancing Institutional EDI Knowledge of Disability and Academic Accessibility: 

• Accessible Learning Services recognizes that there may be multiple professors assigned to teach the same course section 

• For Humber specifically, if the new faculty member taking over is assigned as an instructor of the course on MyHumber/Banner, then they may already notice student Accommodation Letters on the ALS Faculty Web Portal. 

• If faculty are teaching the first half of a course only, we recommend that the incoming faculty be alerted to any students in the course who have an Accommodation Letter.  

• Remember, although most student Accommodation Letters are available on the Faculty Web Portal, some students prefer to share their letters directly with faculty independently and these will not be reflected on the portal.  

• We encourage faculty taking over the course to reach out to students with Accommodation Letters and confirm the letter has been reviewed. 

• Questions about accessing the faculty web portal, can be addressed to accessible-learning@humber.ca.  

Visit our ALS Information for Faculty website to learn more about accommodating students with disabilities. 

Please email us at accessible-learning@humber.ca with suggestions for key accessibility-related topics that you would like us to address through the Communiqué. 

HROE has added a safety plan checklist for in-person meetings. This page is only be accessible to current Humber employees (i.e. an employee with an active employee ID or N number to sign in).

Prior to scheduling an in-person meeting in the fall 2021 term, please review the safety measures.

Bookmark the safety sheet

Resources

A microsite has been developed to provide important information, health, and safety measures, as well as resources for those coming to campus. The microsite can be found at humber.ca/campus-return.

Additional employee resources