International Experience Canada (a program of the Government of Canada) provides Canadian youth with the opportunity to broaden their perspective of the world and Canada’s place in it through international travel and work experiences that enrich their careers and help build a competitive global workforce that contributes to Canada’s economic success.  The program also fosters people to people ties and strengthens relationships between Canada and partner countries.  We have reciprocal youth mobility agreements with over 30 countries, which give Canadian youth a simplified work permit access to work and travel abroad for up to two years.

Are you considering a gap year?  This session explores the hard facts about how gap years change lives.  Find out what recent studies have to say about how gap years affect performance in university and also career development. This session will explain the pros and cons of taking a "year on" to learn, mature and discover your passions.

Panel moderator

A co-founder of Verge Magazine, the Go Global Expo, and Careers for Globetrotters, Jeff is a well-known voice in the area of international working, studying and volunteering. Having worked, studied and travelled on six continents, Jeff is passionate about the important role international experience plays in developing responsible, caring global citizens. He has spoken to audiences across Canada and the United States on subjects ranging from how to plan an international volunteer experience, to developing effective media skills and literacy. Before co-founding Verge, he worked in the field of experiential education, including several years training experiential educators. Through Verge and the Go Global Expos, Jeff has been helping to connect international organizations and global citizens for nearly two decades.

Ola Mirzoeva is an artist and public servant who has worked and studied overseas, and has traveled to over 25 countries. Ola studied in France and launched her career in Ukraine, through the Canadian International Development Agency Youth Internship Program. She is a former Fellow of the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada, and has worked with various international organizations including the High Commission of Canada to Tanzania, and Digital Opportunity Trust. In 2018 she was selected as an UNLEASH Global Talent, a United-Nations backed global innovation lab focused on addressing the Sustainable Development Goals. Ola is currently Toronto-based, where she develops policy for the City of Toronto, and in 2019 launched the first intergovernmental forum on Newcomer Entrepreneurship for Export Development. Her artistic practice spans music, dance, poetry and film is influenced experiences abroad and inspired continuously by Toronto's diversity.

Are you interested in combining work with travel?  Come meet people who have done it.  This structured but informal networking session brings together people from a variety of backgrounds who have all taken their work overseas.  Hear their stories and their advice on how you can do the same.  Spaces for this session are limited, and tickets will be available at the front desk from 10:30am.  Spaces will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.  

This session is brought to you by Verge Magazine's new initiative Careers for Globetrotters. View bios of the participants here (more coming soon!)

Natalie worked with the Go Global Expo in 2015, and ended up studying and interning in Barbados.  She returned to work with the Expo in 2017, which led to her latest adventure working in the travel industry.

Meg attended three Go Global Expos - one before her exchange program, one afterwards that included her university's re-entry conference, and most recently to get a placement teaching English in Japan with the JET Programme.

Marielle attended the Toronto Go Global Expo in 2017, and found herself teaching in Spain shortly thereafter. A panel discussion at the Expo gave her the insights she needed to set off with confidence - and since she returned home, she has been volunteering with another organization she met at the event!

Rachel's encounters at the Go Global Expo led to her working as a campus rep for one exhibitor, and then to volunteering in Tanzania.. with a little adventure travel thrown in there.

This mother-daughter duo teamed up to explore options for going overseas that they could both be happy with!  Thanks to the Go Global Expo, Natalie's next stop is... France!