Be Open to the World

Rooted in Montreal for more than two centuries, McGill continues to position itself as a global institution with reach and impact that transcends borders. We welcome talented individuals from around the world while promoting the mobility of our own students and scholars. McGill continues to expand its partnerships with organizations and institutions of higher learning.

The University has increased access to experiential learning opportunities, both at home and abroad, in support of a dynamic educational experience with the aim of preparing job-ready and future-ready graduates.

Goals:

Maintaining international undergraduate student enrolment at 25-30%

McGill has continued to be a destination of choice for talented students from abroad. Over the last six academic years, McGill has maintained international undergraduate enrollment between 25.9% and 29.6%.

In Fall 2022, the international undergraduate enrolment rate was 25.9%.

Targeted initiatives

To support our recruitment efforts and promote access to higher education, various targeted initiatives are deployed including a Youth-in-Care bursary guarantee, bursaries for refugee students entered via WUSC, Karta partnership in support of students from low income regions of India, Jusoor partnership in support of female Syrians, as well as bursaries to assist with out-of-classroom experiences such as exchanges, field semesters/courses, as well as unpaid internship and research opportunities.

Continuing to attract top graduate students from around the world

Since 2017, combined Masters and Doctoral international enrolment has grown from 34.4% to 47.6%. McGill now hosts nearly 4,000 international graduate students, and a total of 12,001 international students representing 153 countries.

The top five countries of origin (China, India, USA, France, Iran) for international students at the graduate level have remained stable over the past five years. Students from China remain the largest cohort, accounting for 23% of all international graduate students in 2022. The top five countries of origin for international students in the McGill community account for 67% of all international graduate students.

International sponsorship agreements

Several targeted initiatives exist at the graduate level, aiming to both diversify our international student body and ensure our graduate students are financially supported. McGill is a sought-after partner for international government agencies looking for academic partnerships with top institutions. Such sponsorship agreements provide external fellowships currently valued at close to $3M per year.

McCall MacBain Scholarships

Established in 2019, the McCall MacBain Scholarships are the result of a landmark gift by John and Marcy McCall MacBain. Now in its third year, the leadership-based scholarship for master’s and professional studies has opened its admissions to include international candidates, following two years of Canadian-only admissions.

The McGill Students and Scholars at Risk Fund

In light of geopolitical events in recent years that have adversely affected academic communities around the globe, McGill University has launched The McGill Students and Scholars at Risk Fund. The fund provides urgent financial support to international undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, scholars and researchers who have been displaced by conflicts or humanitarian emergencies.

To date, the Fund has allocated nearly $60K to support 14 graduate students, mainly in the form of tuition assistance. Approximately $106K has already been committed to providing further support to students and scholars over the next two years.

Being among the top ten North American research universities for the proportion of faculty of international origin

McGill's deeply international character has been strengthened by the arrival of new faculty members and researchers to our academic community, which has allowed McGill University to move from 11th to 9th place among the Association of American Universities (AAU) institutions for the proportion of faculty of international origin, according to the QS World University Rankings 2024.

Since 2016, approximately 200 academic staff members have become permanent residents in Canada. In addition, a number of academic staff members have obtained Canadian citizenship. (McGill does not collect data in this regard.)

Doubling the proportion of undergraduate students undertaking global engagements

As has been the case for universities around the world, McGill's international engagement ambitions have been adversely impacted by the global health situation we have experienced, which has curtailed exchanges and most other international activities by undergraduate students over the course of 5 consecutive semesters between summer 2020 and fall 2021.

Nevertheless, since 2017, McGill students participated in more than 2,500 international exchanges and participated in close to 3,400 international activities of various types.

The university seized the opportunity of the 2020-2021 global slowdown to conduct a review and improve the approval and renewal process for student exchange partnerships.

Exchange programs established

Over the past five years, McGill has continued to build relationships and forge new alliances through the establishment of several new exchange programs with institutions abroad:

Four new Faculty-specific exchange agreements:

between the Faculty of Law and the National University of Ireland Galway (Galway,Ireland)
between the Schulich School of Music and the Norwegian Academy of Music (Oslo,Norway)
between the Schulich School of Music and Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing, China)
between the Faculty of Engineering and Institut national des sciences appliquées (INSA) Rouen Normandie (France)

Two new University-wide student exchange agreements:

With KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium)
With the American University of Beirut (Beirut, Lebanon)

Increasing student mobility funding to $5M annually

Funding in support of undergraduate student mobility reached a peak of approximately $2.2M in 2018-2019, up more than 37% compared to the previous academic year.

McGill continues to regain momentum in international undergraduate student exchanges and we look forward to funding more international student experiences. In 2022-2023, student mobility funding commitments include $1.5M for exchanges, $1.3M for Enriched Educational Opportunity Bursaries for a total of $2.8M, with similar funding expected for 2023-2024.

Graduate students can benefit from the Graduate Mobility Award to engage in mobility for research activities such as field work, archival work, visits to specialized labs, collaboration with international partners, etc. Launched in 2016, the program has grown in popularity and in 2022/23 disbursed a record $1M in graduate mobility awards.

Reducing administrative barriers to achieving transfer credit

In 2018, the Course Equivalency System (CEQ) was updated so Engineering students, participating in Exchanges or Study Away, could submit equivalency requests and indicate the Accreditation Units needed for course assessment by the Faculty of Engineering advisors and enhancements were made to the Transfer Credit Assessment Form.

Expanding the number of joint and dual degrees with partner institutions

Joint and Dual Degrees offer unique opportunities to build research partnerships with universities across the world.

A cotutelle is an agreement on joint supervision at the doctoral level between two cooperating institutions that allows a doctoral student to receive academic training and to perform research work under the joint responsibility of a thesis supervisor from McGill University and a thesis supervisor from the partner institution.

Kyoto-McGill International Collaborative PhD Program in Genomic Medicine

This Joint degree program started in 2018 in partnership with Kyoto University, an institution that is part of Japan’s “Top Global University Project”. Cohorts follow a common curriculum in Genomic Medicine approved by the Japanese government. At McGill, the students are based in the Human Genetics PhD program.

Currently, there are fourteen (14) students pursuing this Joint PhD degree, including three (3) admitted in 2023. The first two students graduated from this program in Summer 2022.

Dual Master’s and Joint PhD in Population Health Methods and Data Sciences

McGill University has partnered with University of Bordeaux to offer a Dual Degree in Public Health Data Science (MSc). The program was approved and funded by the French government as part of “écoles universitaires de recherche” in October 2017. At McGill, it is jointly administered by the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health. Bordeaux’s program focuses heavily on data science, while McGill’s program focuses on foundational courses in epidemiology, biostatistics, and public health. Both programs complement each other’s strengths.

Since Fall 2019, this program has welcomed 18 students. Two (2) students graduated with a Dual Master’s in Summer 2020.

NEW - Dual Master’s Degree in Law

The Faculty of Law has partnered with KU Leuven to organize a Dual Degree pathway for students who wish to do the Master of Laws (LLM) Thesis program at McGill and either the Master of Laws (LL.M.) or the Master in de Rechten at KU Leuven. The cohorts will do their first year at either institution, to then spend the second year abroad at the other to complete the second degree. Both institutions are working on recruitment.

Cotutelles at McGill

A Cotutelle is an agreement on joint supervision at the doctoral level between two cooperating institutions that allows a doctoral student to receive academic training and to perform research work under the joint responsibility of a thesis supervisor from McGill University and a thesis supervisor from the partner institution.

McGill further enhanced international collaboration by consistently increasing the number of Cotutelle agreements with partner institutions across the globe, including in France, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates.

In 2014, the first agreement was signed; by the end of the 2022-2023 academic year, there were 32 active Cotutelle students. Since 2017, 18 Cotutelle students have graduated.

Enhancing McGill’s presence abroad

Faculty mobility

With the aim of facilitating the international engagement of our faculty members, McGill’s Global Engagement team have supported a variety of programs including:

Moreover, three Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) signed with the RIKEN Institute (Japan), the National Institute of Physiological Sciences (Japan) and the University of Glasgow (UK) specifically aim to promote faculty mobility.

McGill has over 100 active MOUs in over 45 countries.

Explore McGill's Memoranda of Understanding (MOU)

Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program

In 2013, McGill University began its partnership with the Mastercard Foundation to offer the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at McGill. This program provides academically talented young leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa with access to a world-class university education.

Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, Art, Architecture and Traditional Knowledge

Stemming from a partnership between McGill University and EVOQ Architecture, the travelling exhibition Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, Art, Architecture and Traditional Knowledge was selected to represent Canada at the 2022 Arctic Circle Assembly event in Reykjavik, Iceland. Subsequently, the exhibition was presented in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of the Dubai World Expo, and is now on display at the McGill downtown campus. The exhibition pays tribute to the Inuit artists whose work is integrated into the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) Campus.

World Economic Forum

Global University Leaders Forum (GULF)

McGill University is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global University Leaders Forum (GULF), comprised of some of the leading 29 universities in the world. GULF enables university leaders to engage in high-level dialogue on topics such as the future of higher education and the role of science in research, development and innovation with other sectors, including the business community. GULF also aims to foster collaboration between universities in areas of significance for global policy.

Resident Faculty Fellowships, San Francisco (US)

From 2019 to 2022, McGill University sponsored six (6) 9-12 month Fellowships at the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) in San Francisco. These Resident Faculty Fellowships provided an opportunity for McGill faculty to work collaboratively with colleagues from the academic, industry, government and policy spheres on forward-thinking and problem-solving opportunities that engage issues of immediate interest and concern to the future of technology and its place in the human world.

United Arab Emirates

In March 2022, a McGill delegation travelled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The multi-purposed visit covered aspects of international relations, university advancement, and strengthening McGill’s presence in the UAE and the broader GCC region. The Dubai Expo 2020 provided an ideal global meeting place and a unique opportunity for McGill to foster connections with partners, bring together and deepen its engagement with alumni from across the region, and highlight areas of academic excellence.

Singapore

In February 2023, a McGill delegation traveled to Singapore to participate in the inaugural Canada-in-Asia Conference. Organized by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and Universities Canada, this conference aims to accelerate Canada-Asia engagement by bringing together Canadian universities, their alumni, and other key stakeholders in business, finance, and government.

Recent developments (Spring/Summer 2023)

McGill welcomed the High Commissioner of India, and signed an agreement with the government of India to establish a chair in Indian Studies in the Faculty of Arts.
A McGill delegation traveled to Indonesia, meeting with alumni, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and Universitas Indonesia, among others.
A delegation from Université Paris-Saclay visited McGill, resulting in the signing of an MOU between our two institutions. This cooperation agreement is focusing on research and the establishment of a Joint Bachelor’s in Global Engineering, with Centrale Supélec.

Quantified targets: Achieved or surpassed | Partially achieved | Not achieved

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