Royal Roads University and the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) have expanded their partnership through a memorandum of agreement that creates two degree-completion pathways for students in Sri Lanka. The collaboration will provide opportunities for students at SLIIT's Kandy campus to earn either a Royal Roads Bachelor of Business Administration or a Bachelor of Hospitality and Tourism Management degree while studying locally.
The agreements reflect a growing collaboration between the two institutions, first formalized in January 2026, and a shared commitment to increasing access to internationally recognized degree programs through transnational education models. Programming under the hospitality and tourism pathway is expected to begin in July 2028, joining the Bachelor of Business Administration pathway established earlier this year.
"This partnership is part of our commitment to emphasize diverse global perspectives in our classrooms and deliver accessible programs regardless of location," said Royal Roads President and Vice-Chancellor Philip Steenkamp. "It also demonstrates how applied, changemaking-oriented programming supports regional social, environmental and economic priorities."
Students will complete their first two years of study through SLIIT before entering Years 3 and 4 of either Royal Roads degree program. Those final years will be delivered in Sri Lanka, allowing students to earn a Canadian credential while studying locally.
Students progressing into the Royal Roads portion of the programs will be formally enrolled as Royal Roads students and will have access to the university's learning management system, library resources and other digital services.
Together, the Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Hospitality and Tourism Management pathways provide students at SLIIT's Kandy campus with two Canadian degree-completion options in fields with strong global demand and relevance.
"This partnership is going to benefit our students in a very meaningful way, as the first Canadian degree completion program offered in Sri Lanka," said Prof. Lalith Gamage, CEO and Vice-Chancellor of SLIIT. "We are creating opportunities for study in program areas that are in high demand around the world."
SLIIT's extensive network of international partnerships includes collaborations with institutions such as Curtin University, Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Queensland.
Royal Roads partnerships include agreements with Mount Royal University, National Taipei University of Technology, the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Canadian Defence Academy and a dual credit agreement with School District 62.
About the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology SLIIT, founded in 1999, is Sri Lanka's largest non-state higher education institution, serving more than 25,000 students through campuses in Malabe, Colombo, Matara, Kurunegala, Kandy and Jaffna. Approved by Sri Lanka's Ministry of Education and University Grants Commission, the university offers programs spanning information technology, engineering, business, law, psychology and tourism, with plans to expand into medicine. The institution is also one of the few universities in Sri Lanka recognized in both the QS Asia University Rankings and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and the only non-state university included on both lists.
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