Conversation with UNAM-Canada
- Title
- Conversation with UNAM-Canada
- Description
- The organization we interviewed for this project is UNAM-Canada, an extension of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico’s largest and oldest public University. UNAM has thirteen international offices located in multiple countries, such as the United States, France, Germany, Spain, China, Chile, and, more recently, the United Kingdom. Founded in 1995, UNAM-Canada serves as the university’s international office in Canada. Located in downtown Hull, in Gatineau, this extension currently employs eighteen staff members. As part of this project, we interviewed Alex Méndez, the Academic Affairs Chief Executive at UNAM-Canada, and Brenda Colín, the Administrative Lead at UNAM-Canada.
The UNAM-Canada primarily offers language courses in Spanish, French and English, as well as courses on Mexican and Latin American culture, welcoming more than 800 students each year (Unam Canadá 2019). Most of the students enrolled in Spanish courses come from the region and generally fall into two main categories. The first group consists mostly of retirees who enjoy traveling to Latin America and would like to improve their Spanish skills. The second group includes government employees or professionals who require Spanish for specific purposes and therefore will take classes with UNAM-Canada. When it comes to English and French courses, most participants are international students from UNAM in Mexico. In fact, twice a year, during the summer and winter semesters, the school holds a program called PUMA+. Through this program, Mexican students spend three weeks in Canada developing their English and French skills. In addition, UNAM-Canada is one of only two accredited institutions in Canada authorized to offer the SIELE examination, which provides an internationally recognized certification of Spanish language proficiency (Unam Canadá 2026). As a result, UNAM-Canada has established itself as one of the most important language learning institutions in the National Capital region, especially regarding the teaching and the certification of the Spanish language.
Furthermore, another important aspect of UNAM-Canada is its connection to the broader UNAM network, widely recognized as a hub for research and innovation across multiple disciplines (TV UNAM 2017). Indeed, during the interview, it was pointed out that UNAM is involved in a wide range of scientific and academic fields. As Brenda Colín explained, UNAM has developed many important contributions that not everyone knows about: it has its own satellite. It also has two research vessels. By sharing these achievements through its Canadian programs, UNAM-Canada helps bring greater visibility to the global impact of Mexican and Latin American research. This is not only beneficial for raising awareness among local Canadian communities, but also for highlighting the key role that Latin American institutions like UNAM has in developing knowledge on a global scale.
In addition to promoting the Spanish language, as well as Mexican and Latin American culture, UNAM-Canada’s mandate is to build academic bridges between Canada and Mexico and to further strengthen UNAM’s presence abroad. One clear example of this would be the many Mexican students who come to Canada to conduct research at universities such as the University of Ottawa, Concordia University, and McGill University. These academic exchanges are actively supported by UNAM-Canada, which has been collaborating with regional universities to develop and expand such opportunities over time. UNAM-Canada also serves as an important venue for conferences, round tables, book and film presentations, symposiums, as well as painting and photography exhibitions, in addition to concerts and theatre performances. The institution has classrooms, a specialized library focused on Mexican and Latin-American books, a cafeteria and a multipurpose room that functions as both an auditorium and art gallery (Unam Canadá 2019). Moreover, UNAM-Canada is widely recognized for organizing the Day of the Dead celebration in collaboration with the Embassy of Mexico and the City of Gatineau. Every year, the institution installs an altar, either in the school’s multipurpose room or at Gatineau’s city hall and hosts a variety of cultural activities related to the celebration, bringing together members of the regional community.
We decided to interview UNAM-Canada because of its importance in promoting Mexican and Latin American culture in the National Capital Region. Although this university mainly focuses on language courses and Mexican and Latin American cultural activities, its impact goes beyond the academic sphere. Indeed, the organization actively contributes to strengthening the sense of community in the region by offering activities that encourage relationships between students and citizens. Whether through language courses, a variety of cultural events, or by facilitating academic exchanges between Mexico and Canada, UNAM-Canada fosters intercultural understanding and builds connections between local and international communities. Thus, the university’s participation and the digital archiving of the interview would help make the general public more aware of the important role of this organization in promoting UNAM and Mexico, as well as in strengthening intercultural bonds.
If you would like to learn more about UNAM-Canada, we encourage you to visit their website: https://canada.unam.mx/fr/accueil/
If you would like to learn more about UNAM, we invite you to watch this video: https://youtu.be/8VGgHcOO8TM?si=04-1UyCAJ5kYl0dZ
Bibliography:
Unam Canadá. 2019. “Histoire - Unam Canadá.” Last modified November 12. https://canada.unam.mx/fr/histoire/.
Unam Canadá. 2026. “Service International D’Évaluation De La Langue Espagnole (SIELE) - Unam Canadá.” Last modified February 23. https://canada.unam.mx/fr/service-international-devaluation-de-la-langue-espagnole/.
TV UNAM. 2017, December 6. “UNAM La Universidad De La Nación - Video Institucional.” Video, 4 min., 43 sec. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VGgHcOO8TM. - Rights
- Pictures taken by Noémie Burrs and Charlotte Lasnier
Figure 1. Entrance of UNAM-Canada (March 17, 2026)
Figure 2. Day of the Dead altar commemorating Québec artist Jean Paul Riopelle at Maison du Citoyen (November 3, 2024)
Figure 3. Library at UNAM-Canada (March 17, 2026) - Format
- Audio file : MP3 file - 23.0 Mo
Images : JPG file - 3.59 Mo ; JPG file - 7.38 Mo Mo ; JPG file - 3.50 Mo
- Language
- English
- Interviewer
- Noémie Burrs, Leila Ledenko and Charlotte Lasnier
- Interviewee
- Alex Méndez and Brenda Colín
- Location
- Gatineau, Québec, Canada
- Transcription
- Interviewer 1 (0:00): Hi, my name is Charlotte. Together with my colleagues Noémie and Leila, we conducted an interview with Alex Méndez and Brenda Colín from UNAM-Canada, the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Gatineau. As part of a Latin American and Caribbean anthropology course, our goal was to better understand the services and activities offered by the university as well as to learn more about a Latin American organization in our region. Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy this interview.
Interviewer 2 (0:35): I'm going to ask you guys to introduce yourselves first, and then I'll get into the questions after that.
Alex Méndez (Academic Affairs Chief Executive, UNAM-Canada) (0:43): Thank you for being here. My name is Alex Méndez. I'm the Academic Affairs Chief Executive at UNAM-Canada.
Brenda Colín (Administrative Lead, UNAM-Canada) (0:49): Hi, hello, I'm Brenda Colín. I'm the administrative in charge at UNAM-Canada.
Interviewer 2 (0:58): My first question is: what is the name of your organization and where is it located?
Alex Méndez (1:05): The name of the organisation is UNAM-Canada. Now, we are changing to UNAM Commonwealth because we are changing our legal status to cover another branch of UNAM in the United Kingdom. So, that is the reason why now we are named UNAM Commonwealth.
Brenda Colín (1:26): And we are located at 55 Rue du Portage, Gatineau, Quebec, J8X 2J9. Sorry for my French.
Interviewer 2 (1:40): When and why was this organisation created?
Brenda Colín (1:44): It’s very interesting because last year we celebrated our 30th anniversary, so we have 30 years in the region. We were created in 1995. And the purpose—
Alex Méndez (1:58): We were created like an international program that originated from 80 years ago. The first one is 81 years with San Antonio in Texas. It’s the first one, the first office abroad of the UNAM. And we are the second one. We have—
Brenda Colín (2:23): It’s very interesting also because UNAM in Mexico is a big university, one of the most important in Latin America. And right now, it has several offices abroad, around 13 around the world, like in China or in South America like Chile recently, and in the United Kingdom.
Alex Méndez and Brenda Colín (2:45): France, Germany, China, Spain. In the United States, we have five: San Antonio, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, and Tucson.
Brenda Colín (3:00): We have many offices abroad. Now, we are working with the United Kingdom to create one legal status, like incorporated. Because of the Commonwealth: United Kingdom and Canada. That helps.
Interviewers (3:19): Interesting.
Alex Méndez (3:22): This is our vision: promote mobility, relation, cooperation and inter and intra-institutional collaboration; promote language teaching and certification of Spanish; disseminate Mexican culture and local cultures, for the benefit of both the university community and the Mexican one abroad; and enhance the presence of UNAM abroad.
Interviewer 1 (3:44): How does the university meet its mission? What kind of activities do you do?
Alex Méndez (3:54): We were created as a language school, that is why we have the language in our mission. We offer Spanish classes for Canadians, and English and French for Mexican and Latin American students. We are not closed to or just for Mexican or UNAM students. It’s open to Hispanophone people that want to study English or French here in Canada. Also, in our courses, we have culture, Latin American culture. And also, we have activities created with our culture. We are aiming to show what is happening at UNAM, the developments at UNAM. That is the reason why we try not to just concentrate in culture, so it is open to what is doing UNAM right now. Our programs are open to everyone, not just Mexican students.
Brenda Colín (5:00): Maybe not a lot of people know about all the important things that UNAM has created. It’s a very old university also, and throughout it’s history it has created and brings a lot in science, in culture, in many different disciplines. We have a satellite; I don’t know if you know about it. UNAM has one. We have two vessels—
Alex Méndez (5:46): One in the Pacific and one in the Atlantic.
Brenda Colín (5:51): UNAM is also in charge of the Seismological Institute. There are a lot of earthquakes in Mexico, so they have an institute that measures them and makes study about it. It’s UNAM that is in charge of that. We have different institutes and faculties for every discipline that you can imagine. It’s a huge university. And here, we would like to share all of what UNAM in Mexico does, have more people know about it and be more in touch with that knowledge. And create bonds between UNAM in Mexico and universities in Canada, to create opportunities for teachers and students that are interested in developing research and studies on different topics.
Interviewer 2 (7:05): You have a big fan right here.
Interviewer 3 (7:11): I actually went to Taxco with my Spanish class through UNAM-Canada.
Brenda Colín (7:18): That’s a one example of what UNAM offers. UNAM-Canada itself is just a little part of all of what UNAM offers. I’m so happy and I hope that one day you have the opportunity to go to Mexico City and know UNAM. Ciudad Universitaria is like a city of the university, it’s huge. You move around with a pus, Puma bus. It’s actually a bus that drives around all the faculties, it’s huge, it’s very interesting.
Interviewer 3 (7:58): Could you talk more about the Day of the Dead celebration? I’ve been able to participate a few times, and it might be interesting for the interview.
Brenda Colín (8:10): Of course. Throughout the year, we have different activities, and one of the most important is the Day of the Dead. It’s celebrated at the end of October/beginning of November. We create an altar dedicated to— normally we choose a writer, a scientific or somebody important in Mexico and also Canada, so the two countries. We create an altar at La Maison du Citoyen, the alcaldía (city hall) of Gatineau. The purpose of this activity is to share this tradition that is very important in Mexico. During this event we remember our loved ones who have passed away, but more with a happy feeling. It’s a celebration of life, more like who is this person or what did you live with this person. More about remembering the happy memories and having the feeling of celebrating what this person lived or what this person contributed to Canada, to Mexico or to the world. This year we’re working on the altar for October/November, and you’re invited to participate in the activity. We are thinking about important people who contributed to the world, like Jane Goodhall for example, who passed away recently. It’s to commemorate them and honour them and honour their contributions. It’s a tradition that we like to share with the community, and it’s well known in the region. We are happy to have the support of the city.
Alex Méndez (10:25): Did you see Coco, the movie Coco?
Interviewer 1 (10:28): I was just thinking, that’s where I heard of it. Because I didn’t know about it before until I watched Coco. I watched it a few times.
Interviewer 1 (10:38): It’s really a good movie. I cried multiple times.
Alex Méndez (10:40): But that’s a really good representation of what it means and how we see death. It’s really beautiful.
Interviewer 2 (10:47): Like their passing, crossing a bridge to come and be with family, be with the dead.
Alex Méndez (10:57): Exactly. It's to share the moment with the family that passed away. That is the reason to remember what they did in life and to remember the person in this celebration.
Interviewer 1 (11:12): How many staff and volunteers work with you?
Brenda Colín (11:18): Staff members, we have 18 staff. And we don’t work with volunteers.
Alex Méndez (11:26): It’s just in specific cases, like Day of the Dead, that we have volunteers who help with the logistics of the activity. But we don’t work with volunteers. We don’t have a regular program or something like that. Our volunteers come from our Spanish classes, maybe students who want to practice their Spanish with Latin American people that visit our offrendas (Day of the Dead altar). That is the reason why we, just in that case, will work with volunteers.
Interviewers (12:10): Interesting.
Interviewer 3 (12:13): Since you talked a little bit about your students, would you mind sharing anonymous stories about your students: who they are, why they want to take your classes, why do they want to study at UNAM-Canada.
Brenda Colín (12:30): We have diverse types of students. Like Alex mentioned before, our Spanish students are from the region. Generally, they are retired, who like to travel in Latin America and want to improve their Spanish. Recently, we had students from the government that have more specific necessities when it comes to why they want to improve their Spanish. So, we have those kinds of students in our Spanish classes. In English and in French, mostly they are students like you saw in the video: university students that mostly come from UNAM. Also, like we mentioned before, our courses are open to anyone that wants to have the experience of our winter or summer Puma (PUMA+ program).
Alex Méndez (13:31): Sometimes, we also have students that come from Mexico that come to visit other universities like Ottawa University, or in Montréal: Concordia or McGill. They develop research with professors and researchers in Canadian universities. Sometimes we have visitors from Mexico to develop research in Canada.
Interviewer 3 (14:02): Cool, thank you. This would be our last questions. It’s a more personal question: what motivates you to do this work, and why do you think it’s important?
Brenda Colín (14:17): Personally, I feel very proud to be part of UNAM-Canada because I studied at UNAM in Mexico. I feel very proud to be part of UNAM in Canada and be part of an organization that makes visible UNAM abroad, specifically here. Not only what UNAM does: it’s a lot like you can see. But also, Mexican and Latin American contributions, traditions, cultural and scientific contributions. It’s not very visible, necessarily. I feel very proud to be part of this organization and to help students with languages and to make bonds with Canada and Mexico. It’s very important and I feel very happy.
Alex Méndez (15:15): As UNAM-Canada, I think this is important because it is part of the internalization process of UNAM. It’s the biggest university in Mexico, so they want to have connections with the world. That is the reason we are here and why our rector (UNAM’s rector) encourages this process, not only in Canada but in other countries too. To connect Mexican development and scientific culture and research, because with the size of UNAM, any topic you want to touch at is there. That is the reason why it is important for UNAM to connect the development of knowledge with the world. As Alex, personal opinion, I think it’s the same as Brenda. It’s great to be part of this internalization project because you are a part of promoting the connection between Canada and Mexico. And you can open the opportunities for Mexican students or Latin American students to— it’s like when we have our Puma courses: we ask “for whom is it the first time outside of Mexico?”. It’s 80-90% of the population. It’s a big number and it’s part of the project that we are showing to the students: there is more than just Mexico or any country in Latin America. It’s an opportunity to see what is Canada or what is another country in the world, because we have the same office abroad system for other countries. When you see that this is connected to the students and show the students other opportunities, and open opportunities with Canadian universities and with other sectors, it’s a beautiful moment to be there and to be part of this big project. I’m happy to be here.
Interviewers (17:39): Thank you so much. Thank you for having us.
Brenda Colín (17:45): Thanks for coming and being interested in UNAM-Canada. You’re welcomed anytime. - Original Format
- In person
- Duration
- 17:50
Files
Collection
Citation
“Conversation with UNAM-Canada,” Anthroharvest, accessed April 29, 2026, http://omeka.uottawa.ca/anthroharvest/items/show/123.