Pearson College of the Pacific UWC

Pearson College is Nobel Peace Prize recipient Lester B. Pearson’s living legacy to Canada and the world. In creating the College, Mr. Pearson envisioned a place where
students could be welcomed “without regard to race, religion or politics and that scholarships be established so that students who attend the College will be from all levels of society and will be genuine representatives of their own peoples.” It is one of 17 UWCs worldwide. To date, more than 4,000 people from every Canadian province and territory and more than 140 countries from around the world have directly benefited from the unique educational experience offered at Pearson College. Up to 200 students at a time, ages 16-19, live and learn together as guests on the traditional territories of the Scia’new peoples. Each young scholar is selected on the basis of merit, promise and a commitment to the ideals of the UWC movement, and more than 90 per cent of students receive full or partial scholarships to attend the College. The College’s commitment to meet “all demonstrated need” combined with its ability to select and support its students through the UWC’s 159 national committees, means Pearson is able to recruit some of the world’s very best and brightest young people.

UWC is global education movement that makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. Challenges such as climate change, extremism, mass migration and income inequality now dominate our society. Skills in global citizenship, particularly peace and reconciliation, are needed more than ever. The College is actively engaged in implementing Canada’s Indigenous Peace and Reconciliation goals here on the campus and within the UWC movement. We are developing a strong focus on Indigenous relations and reconciliation through increasing Indigenous students, social innovation programming, peace building tools, developing new IB courses and dialogue on a global scale.

Our students come with high levels of empathy and develop an even greater acceptance of diversity, more emotional intelligence, better communication, and a greater ability to prevent and resolve conflicts in a peaceful and effective manner. The concept of gathering a diverse cohort of young people from all over the world to live and study together for two years is practical in nature. Our alumni are living proof that our life changing education makes a difference. No matter what they do, our alumni are dedicated to making positive change happen in diverse and powerful way to make the world a better place.