Expanding academic ties in Western Canada
From 3rd to 7th November, a delegation from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University conducted a visit to Alberta and British Columbia to explore new opportunities for collaboration with Canadian higher education institutions.
University of Alberta: shaping an innovative academic programme
During three days, the delegation was welcomed at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where it met with representatives from the university’s governance, faculty, administrative staff, and student bodies. Together, they worked on the development of a double undergraduate degree in two disciplines: Economics and History. A programme of excellence, the double bachelor's degree in Economics and History offered by Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne includes, on the economics side, core and thematic courses complemented by quantitative analysis methods, while the history track covers major historical periods with a particular focus on economic history. The launch of this bilingual programme, developed in partnership with the University of Alberta and Campus Saint-Jean, the province’s only francophone post-secondary institution, is scheduled for 2028.
Selected under the 2025 call for projects by the Embassy of France in Canada, which aims to support French-Canadian academic excellence, this initiative aligns with the university’s strategy to strengthen international exchanges, promote Francophonie in higher education, and expand opportunities for courses taught in English.
Upon completion of the programme, students will earn a double degree from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and a Bachelor’s from the University of Alberta, giving graduates a competitive edge for further studies and employment both in France and internationally. This initiative strengthens ties already initiated with the University of Alberta in 2024, which recently led to the signing of a multidisciplinary student exchange agreement between the two institutions.
Canada: a key player in the university's international strategy
With 14 partner institutions located so far exclusively in Quebec and Ontario, Canada is the second most represented country outside Europe in Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne’s international network of partners. These collaborations have already led to the creation of two double master’s degrees in Environmental Law and in Mathematics & Computer Science with Quebec universities. In terms of mobility, these partnerships generated over 90 incoming and outgoing student exchanges in 2024–2025, making Canada the university’s fifth-largest partner country for international non-degree mobility.
To further expand cooperation with new Canadian provinces, the Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne delegation also met with three anglophone universities in British Columbia (University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University and University of the Fraser Valley), paving the way for additional academic collaborations.
