University of Calgary International
Strengthening intercultural competencies to forge meaningful international educational and research opportunities.
We support our university in serving diverse local communities and embracing its role as a global intellectual hub where students and staff from 160 countries come to share ideas and grow together.
Dr. Janaka Ruwanpura
Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President Research (International)
Our impact
Our mandate is to connect you to the world. We help prepare students today for the world of tomorrow, and help faculty and staff to engage in international research and learning that benefits local, national and international communities.
In 2013, UCalgary launched its International Strategy with the goal of becoming a global intellectual hub. It was the first strategic plan for internationalization in the university’s history. We have come a long way since then, becoming an award-winning university for excellence and innovation in internationalization.
Our International Strategy Impact Report highlights the significant progress made on the identified goals and targets of the International Strategy. The results in this report have informed UCalgary’s Global Engagement Plan 2020-2025, which charts the
path forward.
See how we're making a difference
Highlights from the International Strategy Impact Report, and the significant progress made related to the identified goals and targets in the International Strategy 2013-2020.
Goal 1 Increase diversity of our campus communities
- The year 2020 saw the highest percentage of international student enrolment for undergraduates (10.9%), while the highest percentage for international graduate students occurred in 2019 (29.4%).
- Students from more than 160 countries have studied at UCalgary.
- In 2020, 17.8% of our faculty hires were international, and 48.7% of our faculty members were internationally trained.
- 11,700+ UCalgary-contactable alumni reside in 152 countries outside Canada.
“My Inca, We Made It” by David Escobar, International Photo Contest.
Goal 2 Improve global and cross-cultural competencies within our campus communities
- 7,896 undergraduate students participated in international learning experiences (ILE) in more than 90 countries.
- The Top 5 ILE destinations were:
- United States
- Mexico
- Germany
- Japan
- United Kingdom
- ILE participation grew by 46.4%.
- UCalgary students received 4,760 grants and awards worth more than $6.7 million from various internal and external sources for ILE, with more than 56% of funding coming through UCI.
- UCI hosted 14 country day events for our community.
Goal 3 Enhance opportunities for international collaborations and partnerships in research and education
- UCalgary produced 21,770 joint publications with international co-authors in 181 countries.
- Annual number of international joint publications grew 70.1% from 2013 to 2020.
- From fiscal years 2013-2020, we received more than $138.9 million in research revenue from more than 700 unique international sponsoring agencies situated in 31 countries.
- Managed 463 total number of active agreements with 244 partners.
- UCI organized 556 visiting delegations, 695 mission-related international meetings and 59 events.
Goal 4 Leverage our unique areas of expertise to engage in international development
- Total value of all international development projects from 2013-2020: $22,727,126.
- Total UCalgary students and scholars engaged in international development projects: 491.
The path ahead
Looking back on the many achievements over the seven years of the University of Calgary’s International Strategy, we have a lot to be proud of, and many things to look forward to.
In our constantly changing world, new opportunities for innovation continue to emerge, making global engagement more important than ever. The University of Calgary is on course to be the entrepreneurial university — a place where students, faculty and staff face fewer barriers to innovation and have access to more tools to change the world around them, empowering them to tackle society’s big problems.
A great research university needs a strong and continued commitment to internationalization. Through innovation and hard work, we can be the university that Calgary, Alberta, Canada and the world needs as we write the next chapter of our collective story.
We are a global intellectual hub, an award-winning leader in internationalization — and we are just getting started!
