The University of Windsor is planning to increase enrolment in its international exchange program by 30 per cent.
The increase will happen over the next two years.
Recently, the university joined the Canadian Bureau for International Education's Learning Beyond Boarders initiative.
The initiative is aimed at sending more Canadian students abroad to take advantage of learning experiences in other countries.
Associate Vice President of Student Experience, Ryan Flannagan, says there are a total of 50 institutions across the country participating in the initiative.
He says international exchange programs offer students more than just a trip to another country.
"It is a tremendous opportunity for students in terms of getting themselves exposed to different ways of doing things," says Flannagan. "They are putting themselves out there and stretching themselves in terms of their experiences which serves them tremendously well when they go into the workforce."
He says the exchange program is an economic way for students to study abroad.
"They pay their tuition at the University of Windsor and then they do not pay their tuition at the host institution," says Flannagan. "What they have to pay for is their living arrangements, their food, their travel arrangements. If they go to Europe, for example, they are going to get quite a deal because the tuition for an international student going to one of those institutions can be quite expensive."
He says the program makes students seeking jobs more employable on a global scale.
"If a student has international experience, it makes them really attractive to employers," says Flannagan. "They are much more likely to get a job that will give them lots of opportunities both on a domestic and international front."
According to the CBIE, only three per cent of Canadian undergraduate students currently take part in international exchange programs.