Concordia’s Student Refugee Program gives displaced students a new beginning
The revived committee has sponsored six students in the last two years
From refugee camps in Kenya and Lebanon to Montreal, Concordia University’s Student Refugee Program (SRP) is giving displaced students a chance at higher education and a new beginning.
The nationwide program is administered by the World University Service of Canada (WUSC), an international development and non-profit organization. It has local committees at post-secondary institutions to support newly arrived refugee students.
After a few years of inactivity, Concordia’s WUSC local committee relaunched its operations in 2024. The program is funded by student fee levies and covers all costs for sponsored students in their first year, including tuition, housing and living expenses. In subsequent years, students receive financial support to cover their tuition.
Local committee members provide academic and social support. The goal is for students to become self-reliant after their first year of living in Canada.
The Concordia local chapter sponsored three students each year in 2025 and 2026.
Musafiri Fidiya arrived in Montreal through the SRP in August. Originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he was living in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.
“For me, this journey has been one of the best in my life," Fidiya said. "I have been a refugee since 2014, struggling in the camps, but the SRP gave me a chance to live as a citizen and not a refugee."
“We are some of the luckiest people. Thousands of refugees are applying, but only a few will end up coming to Canada.” — Louis Yacob Bakeri, independent vice-president of Concordia’s WUSC local committee
It can take up to two years before students arrive in Canada. Applications, interviews and language exams are part of the requirements.
Louis Yacob Bakeri arrived from Kenya in August 2025 through the Concordia SRP and is now the independent vice-president of Concordia’s WUSC local committee.
Acceptance into the program is highly competitive, particularly given the number of refugees globally who require resettlement to access safety.
“We are some of the luckiest people. Thousands of refugees are applying, but only a few will end up coming to Canada,” Bakeri said.
Asmaa Al Mashhadani is a member of the local executive team as the vice-president of communications and events. She is a Syrian refugee who lived in Lebanon and came to Canada through the SRP last year.
She was accepted into a scholarship program in Lebanon but could not continue without official documents.
“WUSC was the turning point for me,” Al Mashhadani said, reflecting on her own journey.
Now in Canada, she says she feels safe and at home.
“It’s my home. I didn’t feel that until I came here,” Al Mashhadani said.
The program isn’t entirely smooth sailing, however.
Liam Vasquez, the chapter co-president, says one major challenge for students is accessing housing. While placing students in Concordia’s residences is an option, he says it's expensive, and the mandatory meal plan doesn't always meet students’ dietary needs.
Alternatively, when students search for their own housing, they don’t have enough credit to sign a lease, so they need support from other executive members.
“We’ve tried a lot of different options. We’ve tried renting apartments under our names,” Vasquez said.
The executive team and students work together to solve these day-to-day challenges while building a tight-knit community through internal social events.
“Everyone deserves the basic right of pursuing [their] studies anywhere in the world,” Vasquez said.
Looking ahead, the local committee plans to host campus events to raise awareness of the program. Vasquez says they plan to sponsor three students next year but hopes to expand it and support even more students in the future.
