Canada

The University of Illinois System fosters strong, cross-border partnerships with Canada, highlighted by a major collaboration with the University of Toronto on research in mobility, data science, and sustainability. These efforts include a joint seed fund, participation in the Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium (GLHEC), and a long history of academic, research, and student exchange, particularly within the Great Lakes region.

U of I System Initiatives with Canada

  • Lake Superior - Great Lakes

    GLHEC Undergraduate Research Experience – Summer 2026

    Leveraging GLHEC academic partnerships, summer 2026 will be the inaugural session of the GLHEC undergraduate research experience. The summer of 2026 is expected to be a pilot for a larger GLHEC-supported undergraduate summer research exchange program in the future. Academic partnerships within the GLHEC will be leveraged to recruit excellent students for this program in 2026 and beyond.
  • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    GLHEC to present at IAGLR-SCAS joint conference May 28 & 29

    The GLHEC is co-hosting a session on "Bridging Borders and Disciplines" in Great Lakes science and education on May 28 & 29, 2026, with partners from the U of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Michigan State U, UNC Chapel Hill, and Queens U at the joint conference of the International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) and the Society of Canadian Aquatic Sciences (SCAS) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
  • Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium logo

    Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium (GLHEC)

    The Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium (GLHEC) was launched in 2020 to facilitate a new era of cross-border, institutional collaboration in the bi-national Great Lakes region with a focus on three overarching priorities for strengthening the region’s long-term competitiveness and sustainability – skills and talent development, research and innovation, and entrepreneurship.
  • University of Illinois System and University of Toronto lockup

    University of Toronto/U of I Education and Research Initiatives

    The University of Toronto (U of T) and University of Illinois System (U of I) are providing matching seed funds to support collaborative education and research initiatives through a Joint Call for Proposals.