On the margins of the CBIE2020 virtual conference, David Julien, Executive Director of the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE) and Larissa Bezo, President and CEO of the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), signed a Letter of Agreement (LOA) to formalize the collaboration between both organizations. Both IOHE and CBIE are pleased to formalize their long-standing relationship and strategic collaboration, which dates back a decade to 2010, the year in which the Conference of the Americas on International Education (CAIE) was first organized and of which both organizations are founding members.

Under this agreement, the institutions have agreed to increase the opportunities for international academic collaboration between Canada and the Americas. The agreement will:

The LOA consolidates organizational effort to support the ongoing cooperation strategy between Canada and the Americas originally launched in time for CAIE Montreal-2017 and further enhanced in preparation for CAIE Bogotá-2019.In the words of IOHE’s Executive Director, “Our members from Latin America and the Caribbean have a great appetite for bilateral collaboration with Canadian colleges and universities and we are aware that the interest of Canadian institutions towards the region is a response to the diversification efforts of its broader internationalization strategy. This agreement will unify the efforts of both organizations to offer concrete and mutually beneficial opportunities for our respective partners. ”

For her part, Larissa Bezo, President and CEO of CBIE stated: “Latin America is a region of deep and longstanding interest for our member institutions.  There is a history of strong and growing collaboration between CBIE and IOHE and we are pleased to formalize this relationship.  CBIE is proud of being a founding member of CAIE, and we look forward to the next gathering hosted by Chile in 2021. We see tremendous potential for increased collaboration and partnership between Canada and the Americas and view this newly formalized CBIE-IOHE partnership as a strategic initiative that will serve to galvanize these opportunities”.

This Letter of Agreement reaffirms the parties’ mutual interest and commitment to consolidating the collaboration between both organizations and to ensure the continuity of academic relations between Canada and the Americas. IOHE and CBIE invite all CBIE2020 participants to look at the CAEI-2021 Call for Proposals and join the virtual Conference next year.