This study identified the motives for vocational education and training (VET) providers in different countries to collaborate internationally and the challenges they encounter by interviewing 16 teachers, program coordinators, and managers from four VET providers in China and Canada. The findings of this study highlight the difference in primary motives driving VET providers in developed and developing economies to pursue international collaborations. For the former, a commercial approach is prominent, while for the latter, international engagement is more instrumental and developmental in nature. This study also sheds light on the specific barriers such as curricula incompatibility and staff readiness created by the national focus of VET to engage internationally. These findings contribute to a fuller understanding of international collaborations in different national contexts across educational sectors. Furthermore, the employment of the interorganizational relations theory in guiding the investigation enriches the theory by extending its application into educational organizations and exploring how different motives could be interpreted in the educational setting.