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Canada’s rapidly growing communities of people of Indian descent are crucial to the economic, cultural, social, and political spheres of our province. British Columbia’s economy is fuelled, in part, by the trade and industry of our South Asian populations. In the Fraser Valley alone, we are fortunate to have the highest proportion of Indo-Canadian people of any metropolitan area in Canada.
Community leaders told us we needed a place to conduct urgent economic and social analysis to promote cooperation between our countries, and to advance international trade and development. We agreed, and in 2006, after three years of tireless campaigning in local communities, UFV officially opened the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies (CICS).
The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies is a hub of information for people who want to do business with India and who want to understand the relationships and opportunities between our two countries. It enhances the economic contribution of the Indo-Canadian community in BC. It is a place for a wide range of learning activities and resource materials. The Centre has become a national information repository, and a site for valuable social, cultural, and economic research.
- Opening new markets in India
- Transferring knowledge in information technology, media, biotechnology, and agriculture
- Preparing immigrants for the workplace
- Overcoming obstacles to growth
- Improving business opportunities
- Beginning urgent sociological and anthropological research
- Expanding cultural awareness
- Recording histories
- Fostering successful integration
- Exploring the role of the family and its affect on the workplace
- Opening debate on current issues
- Incorporating Indian themes into the curriculum
- Articulating courses, programs, and credentials
- Defining public policy
- Publishing data and research
- Providing research and exchange opportunities for students and faculty in India and Canada
Please contact Victoria Newstead at 604-851-6330 or e-mail Victoria.Newstead@ufv.ca for information about CICS giving to UFV or visit our Donation page to donate online.
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