Lakehead University opens new international student centre

Lakehead University is giving its international students a new home away from home.

The Thunder Bay, Ont., university officially opened its new International Centre on Tuesday. The centre, located on the university's Thunder Bay campuscollects Lakehead's supports and services for international students in one location, as well as providing meeting space

"The International Centre's staff and instructors stand ready to welcome and support the needs of our international students as they adjust to university life and life in Canada," saidMoiraMcPherson, Lakehead's provost andvice-president ofacademics.

International student population growing

Brian Stevenson, Lakehead's president, said the centre has been in the works for years.

"As we watched our international student population grow from 100 to over 1,000 over the past seven years, we also experienced a growing diversity of our campus which has only enriched our university and our communities in numerous ways," Stevenson said. "With that increasing diversity came the need for more varied and centralized services and that is the role of this new centre."

The centre houses the university's international staff, English language centre, international student services, and the study abroad team. Previously, the services were spread across multiple locations, including the off-camusPACI building, Lakehead said in a media release.