April 9, 2026

Collège d’Alma has received more than $6M from the Government of Québec to support the construction of a 40-unit residence. The building will include apartments, common areas, and workspaces. Collège d’Alma Directeur Generale Marie-Ève Gravel explained that the project will help to address the housing crisis in the City of Alma, which has a vacancy rate of less than 1%, while also revitalizing the Alma city centre. Construction will begin in August 2026, with the residence welcoming its first residents in Fall 2027.

Castanet reports that the closure of satellite campuses across British Columbia is harming access to higher ed. The article discusses the impact of the potential and actual campus closures in towns such as Barriere, Clearwater, Fort St James, Nelson, and Williams Lake. Community leaders such as Fort St James Mayor Martin Elphee and Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell emphasized the importance of having a physical higher education centre in the community to address labour market needs and prevent regional brain drain. BC Federation of Students (BCFS) Secretary-Treasurer Cole Reinbold told Castanet that 12 satellite campuses and education centres have closed in recent years. BCFS is calling on the Government of British Columbia to inject funding into PSE.

Lakeland College will modernize its student learning spaces and expand its dual-credit programming, thanks to a $2M investment from Cenovus Energy. This investment will fund upgrades to the Cenovus Energy Production Lab and Cenovus Energy Power Engineering Lab in Lloydminster and School of Trades and Technology learner spaces in Vermilion. In addition, it will support the establishment of dual-credit energy and electrical courses. “This celebration is about more than labs and new programs,” said Lakeland President Dr Alice Wainwright-Stewart. “It’s about ensuring our students have the spaces to collaborate, build foundational skills and grow their expertise, so they can put their education into action and graduate ready to lead and innovate in a vital industry like energy.”

In a recent article from The Conversation, Martine Rhéaume (University of Ottawa) discusses the findings of a qualitative study of 24 ESL and FSL instructors that explored how they view and use AI-assisted tools. Rhéaume describes concerns about student use of generative AI, perceptions of AI use depending on whether it is assisting with existing work or generating text, and instructor use of generative AI as an administrative efficiency tool. The author concludes by defining three institutional commitments for critical AI literacy: distinguishing between AI functions, protecting the learning process, and repositioning the instructor. “The question facing universities is whether institutions will trust the educators who understand their students’ cognitive needs to draw the lines that matter,” writes Rhéaume.

The Okanagan College Faculty Association (OCFA) has reportedly won a grievance filed last year in relation to layoffs and changes to employment instituted by the college. OCFA argued that the changes and layoffs were in breach of its collective agreement with the college, as members could only be laid off in cases of program redundancy, program reduction, or financial exigency. Okanagan College argued that the decisions were necessary as part of its response to reduced international enrolment. In response to the upholding of the grievance by the BC Labour Relations Board, the college said that it plans to reinstate the laid off positions by May 1.

More than 2,100 mathematicians have signed a petition calling on the International Mathematics Union (IMU) to move the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians outside of the US. University of Toronto Associate Professor Ila Varma—co-creator of the petition—said that recent military and immigration actions taken by the US have been detrimental to mathematics and would jeopardize the safety of foreign attendees. The petition also references the IMU’s decision to reschedule the 2022 conference in St Petersburg as precedent, likening the actions of the US to those of Russia in Ukraine. In a statement in response to the concerns about the conference’s location, the IMU asserted that it was “especially important” to hold the event in person in Philadelphia “at a time when international collaboration and science face serious challenges.”

As Canada watches the Artemis II mission closely, University of New Brunswick Professor Brent Petersen and a team of five students are collecting data from the mission on behalf of NASA. Global News reports that the team from UNB is one of 34 organizations around the world tracking the astronaut’s spacecraft, Orion, and is the only team from an academic institution in Canada. The students are watching for a signal from the spacecraft using the satellite dish at UNB Earth Station. While the UNB Earth Station was not designed for deep space, UNB student Megan MacDonald said that it received a signal from the spacecraft on Saturday morning.

Durham College has strengthened its partnership with Ayrshire College in Scotland through a project focused on workforce development, learning innovation, and industry-focused education. “Our partnership with Ayrshire College demonstrates how collaboration can transform workforce development,” said Durham Managing Director, Business and Workforce Development, Corporate Training Services Robin Young. “Together, we are creating immersive learning experiences that give learners a deeper understanding of complex systems, while preparing them for the evolving demands of industry.” Representatives from the colleges also identified priority areas for future work focused on industry and labour market needs.

When postsecondary music programs in Canada are cut, this comes at a cost to the cultural landscape of their respective cities, writes Western University PhD Candidate Duncan McCallum. McCallum explains how the local music scene in a city is strengthened by locally offered music programming. Colleges and universities, writes the author, offer performance spaces, networking opportunities, and new musicians. When programs close, musicians leave and consolidate in larger urban centres. “Music scenes do not simply survive on talent; they depend on the institutions that sustain them,” writes McCallum.

Seneca Polytechnic has become an official Global Training Partner for the aviation education centre IGA Academy in Istanbul. Through the signing of an MOU, Seneca and IGA Academy have agreed to introduce a new service excellence program that is designed specifically for IGA’s VIP terminal. They have also outlined their intent to collaborate on joint training programs in online and in-person formats; knowledge sharing experiences, such as co-authored academic publications; and global events, such as webinars and seminars.