Surrey, B.C. – Kwantlen Polytechnic University has received $500,000 from guard.me International Insurance to provide scholarships, establish an international student emergency fund and support faculty, staff and students with global research funding.

Donor guard.me International Insurance is a health insurance provider for international students.

“International education is the best tool to help change this world because it helps us in understanding and respecting each other. To help create this change and help facilitate more global understanding, guard.me International is proud to donate to this gift to KPU,” says Keith Segal, president and founder of guard.me International Insurance.

“We believe that this opportunity will increase outbound mobility and contribute towards a more enriched global learning environment at KPU,” says Carole St.Laurent, interim associate vice president, KPU International.

The donation provides $100,000 per year over five years to:

  • Establish two annual $3500 guard.me International Insurance scholarships for international students
  • Create a guard.me International Insurance endowed scholarship fund for international students
  • Establish an endowed student emergency fund for international students
  • Create and fund a Global Mobility Fund for five years to support KPU faculty, staff and students in global research and studies
  • Annually provide additional emergency funding for international students with demonstrated need

“With this funding, faculty now have the opportunity to be more global in their research and scholarship activities. We are thankful for this partnership with guard.me International and their significant donation,” says Sandy Vanderburgh, provost and vice-president, academic at KPU.

Learn more about KPU International here.