Pearson Centre

The Pearson Centre

Type	Independent, not-for-profit organization
Active	1994–2013
President	Kevin McGarr
Administrative staff	200 facilitators and experts on hand + 17 staff in the Ottawa office
Students	Since 1994, over 23,000 individuals from 150 nations in 31 countries.
Address	Ottawa, Canada
Colours	Green and Blue
Affiliations	AU; CFC; Canadian Red Cross; CARE Canada; Cérium; Cornwallis Group; ; ECOWAS; EU; ; GoC; DFAIT; DND; CIDA; IADC; International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centres; KAIPTC; Norman Paterson School of International Affairs; NATO; Oxfam Canada; ; RCMP; RMC; UNAC; UNICEF; UN DPKO; UNHCR; USIP
Website	www.pearsoncentre.org

Established in 1994 by the Government of Canada as the Lester B. Pearson Canadian International Peacekeeping Training Centre (more commonly the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, or simply the Pearson Centre) was an independent, not-for-profit organization with its office based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its mandate was to support Canada's contribution to international peace and security. Operations ceased and the Centre closed on November 28, 2013.

The Pearson Centre conducted education, training and research on all aspects of peace operations throughout the world, with the majority of its projects under way in Africa and Latin America. Services ranged from the training of police officers in Rwanda and Nigeria to serve as peacekeepers in Darfur; through delivery of pre-deployment training for Latin American peace keepers in Brasília; to the design and delivery of complex training exercises for use in Europe and Africa.

It also raised revenue through its specialized training and management courses, which it ran for individuals, governments and organizations around the world.

While in operation, the Pearson Centre worked with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Ghana. The Centre provideed facilitation support to the International Network to Promote the Rule of Law, which is a project of the USIP. The International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centres was founded on July 2, 1995, at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre. The Pearson Centre also worked closely with the Canadian extractive sector to implement the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and provide training strategies to ensure that their security providers adhere to these international standards.

The Lester B. Pearson Canadian International Peacekeeping Training Centre was created as an offshoot of the now-defunct Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies and became an independent organisation in its own right in 2001. Named in honour of Lester Bowles Pearson, the former Prime Minister of Canada and recipient of the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the inception of peacekeeping, the Centre was established initially to train Canadian and foreign soldiers in the art of peacekeeping and conflict resolution for postings with United Nations Peacekeeping missions.