Beginning of cooperation of the University of Kazan with the universities of Canada is dated back to the late 1980s-early 1990s, when the agreements were signed with the University of Montreal and McMaster University, Hamilton. The main points of both agreements were students exchange and lectures. When agreements expired, cooperation continued at the level of participation of specialists of the universities in scientific conferences. In 2011 two specialists of KFU went to Canada in order to attend scientific events.

In 2010 only one Canadian citizen studied at KFU, and in 2011 this figure had fallen to zero. In 2010/11 academic year, a graduate of the Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies studied at the University of Alberta and received MS Degree in combined fuel sciences (Master in Integrated Petroleum Science). Today, cooperation with the University of Alberta in the field of processing of heavy oil and bitumen is the most promising area for KFU.