Canada rolls out $100 MILLION in scholarships ONLY for students from India

Canada is offering up to 200 fully funded scholarships for Indian students under a $100 million plan from the University of Toronto, part of a new Canada–India strategy announced Monday. The initiative also includes partnerships between universities and hybrid campuses linking institutions in both countries.

The move comes as India remains Canada’s largest source country for new permanent residents and international students, despite political tensions in recent years and supposed tighter immigration targets by the Mark Carney government over the previous Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The scholarship funding will provide 200 full awards for Indian students across various fields, while 13 new partnerships between Canadian and Indian universities aim to expand student and faculty mobility, research collaboration, and specialised academic programmes.

Three hybrid academic centres are planned in India. Dalhousie University will develop an innovation campus with Indian institutions, and the University of Toronto and McGill University will open Centres of Excellence focused on artificial intelligence research and talent development. These centres are expected to join Indian and Canadian researchers.

For candidates, Immigration.ca notes the agreement has practical implications: continued demand for Indian students in targeted, high-skill fields; stronger research-to-permanent residence pathways; expanded tech employment opportunities; and potential future business mobility benefits under a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. The partnership reinforces India as a priority partner in Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.

The federal government has repeatedly claimed it believes immigration must support economic growth and productivity, and that Canada’s partnership with India aligns directly with that objective by focusing on energy, AI, critical minerals, and advanced manufacturing. Skilled Indian professionals and researchers remain well-positioned within Canada’s immigration system, Immigration.ca says.

It's been analyzed by immigration watchdogs that Canada is recalibrating immigration to what it calls “sustainable levels,” but that sustainability does not mean retreat. Instead, the focus is sharper targeting of high-skilled talent, research-intensive collaboration, technology-driven economic growth, and diversified global supply chains.

The 13 new memorandums of understanding between Canadian and Indian schools come after a February 2026 visit by more than 20 Canadian university presidents to India—the largest Canadian academic delegation ever between the two.