The International Language Academy of Canada has announced it will provide $100,000CAD in scholarships for ambitious Hispanic women who wish to study English in a Canadian institution.
The scholarships are being offered in partnership with the Canadian Hispanic Business Alliance and are open to young women from all Spanish speaking countries who demonstrate leadership skills in their communities.
“Our goal is to empower young women in Spanish speaking countries”
To be eligible, applicants must have been born in and currently living in a Spanish speaking country, and be 19 years of age by the time of program start.
Since its inception in 2007, ILAC has been forward-thinking in promoting Canada as a study destination for students from Spanish speaking countries.
Latin America is an important market for ILAC, with 39% of its students from the region.
“Our goal is to empower young women in Spanish speaking countries by giving them the chance to learn English at a world-class institution in Canada,” explained Jonathan Kolber, co-founder of ILAC.
“One of our biggest markets has always been Latin America, and in fact, our first student was from Colombia. We soon followed with students from various Spanish speaking countries, including Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Venezuela, Spain, Argentina and the rest of Latin America, including Brazil.”
Kolber told The PIE News that as a result, the ILAC team feels that they are part of the Latin American community, and wanted to give back through the scholarship scheme.
“The community has been supportive of ILAC since the first day we opened and this is our way of saying thank you,” he added.
To apply for one of the scholarships, students are asked to submit a one-minute video describing their achievements and goals in community service and leadership. The submissions will be judged on the basis of their content and creativity.
An ILAC spokesperson told The PIE that they have so far have received inquiries from students in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Peru, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Cuba.
“We are requesting that students work directly with one of our ILAC representatives in their country to ensure they will be approved for a visa, as the requirements are different for each market,” they added.
Scholarship applications are being accepted until July 1, 2018.
