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Canadore inks education agreement with Nigeria

'Nigeria has the capacity to send as many students as Canadore College can take'
20190222 canadore nigerian agreement
George Burton and James Makinde sign a 20-year training agreement between Canadore College and Nigeria. Photo by Chris Dawson/BayToday.ca.

North Bay will be home to as many as 200 new students from Nigeria, with close to 70 arriving as soon as this summer.  

The new influx of international students comes thanks to a 20-year training agreement signed between Canadore College and Nigeria’s MiST EDUCare Canada Ltd.  

The first phase of students will take nursing and respiratory therapy programs with the majority of students eventually using academic space within a new pharmaceutical plant which will be built in the city by 2021.

See related: Pharmaceutical Plant coming to North Bay 

“Everybody is excited, they just cannot wait,” said professor James Makinde, President and CEO of MiST EDUCare Canada Ltd., a division of World Care Canada about the Nigerian students who will be attending Canadore College.

“Today is a very important day in the development of global collaborations between our two great countries, Nigeria and Canada, as MiST and Canadore College jointly open up new opportunities in healthcare and technology capacity building.”

Aside from health care, Makinde says the groups have also begun to explore opportunities in areas of media, aviation, and advanced manufacturing.

Meetings with college officials this week also included provisions for outbound student and faculty exchanges.

And if this works out, 200 may be a small number compared to how many Makinde believes could come to get their education at Canadore College here in North Bay.

“Nigeria has the capacity to send as many students as Canadore College can take,” he said.

George Burton, president and CEO of Canadore College, who signed the agreement on behalf of Canadore College, says this is part of the benefits of what they hope the Village project will bring to Canadore College.

See related: Canadore's Village project becomes a reality 

“This is kind of what we envisioned that this would be a springboard for other things to spin off,” said Burton.

“These partnerships bring us closer to connecting people, education and employment through applied learning, entrepreneurship, leadership and innovation. These opportunities will help our community to diversify, grow and thrive over the long haul.”


Chris Dawson

About the Author: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson has been with BayToday.ca since 2004. He has provided up-to-the-minute sports coverage and has become a key member of the BayToday news team.
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