December 17, 2024

The University of New Brunswick’s Canadian Institute of Cybersecurity will host a new Cyber Attribution Data Centre, thanks to a new pledge of funding from the Government of Canada. The federal government will provide up to $10M over five years to support the centre. “This Centre will strengthen the country’s ability to protect critical assets and maintain public trust,” explained UNB CIC Director Dr Ali Ghorbant. “It will serve as a key repository for tracking and analyzing cyberattacks while identifying their characteristics, sources and perpetrators.”

Athabasca University has voluntarily withdrawn its accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, a global institutional accreditor. The withdrawal will take effect in March 2025. The university has been accredited by the commission since 2005; AU states that it is the only Canadian university to have held this accreditation. “As a public postsecondary institution in Canada, AU’s degree-granting authority is established by the Government of Alberta’s Ministry of Advanced Education through legislation,” read a statement from the university. “AU’s participation in the Middle States was entirely voluntary.” This withdrawal will reportedly not impact AU students.

The University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU) is reportedly considering defunding three campus non-profits: The Women’s Centre, the UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, and the URegina chapter of Engineering Without Borders. These groups operate independently but receive funding from student fees collected by URSU. The union alleges that the organizations have failed to meet their compliance requirements, which include conducting fair elections and yearly audits. In response, URSU plans to hold referendums on whether to continue funding these organizations. The Women’s Centre and UR Pride have criticized the move, with Women’s Centre Executive Director Jill Arnott calling it a “targeted attack.” According to the Regina Leader-Post, URSU has since paused the referendums to allow the organizations more time to meet compliance standards.

The Government of Québec has announced that it will provide $300K annually to support the creation of a new research, innovation, and training centre in the Sherbrooke region. The centre will be supported by the Cégep de Granby, the Cégep de Sherbrooke, the École de technologie supérieure, the Centre de collaboration MiQro Innovation, and the Université de Sherbrooke. QC Minister of Higher Education Pascale Déry commented that the centre will combine college and university training with research and innovation to drive advancements in cutting-edge technological fields.

In an article for University World News, Sarwar Khawaja (Oxford Business College) argues that higher education institutions have a duty to advance civic engagement and drive social change. Khawaja underlines that fulfilling this duty is a holistic effort–involving research, teaching, and community engagement–that must be tracked to ensure accountability and impact. The author highlights several strategies for fostering civic responsibility within higher education, including by establishing inclusive policies and initiatives; promoting service-learning initiatives; building community partnerships; and bolstering leadership development. “Ultimately, education is not just about preparing individuals for careers–it is about preparing them to contribute to the greater community,” concludes Khawaja.

Students in Confederation College’s paramedic training program recently saved a person’s life during a training session. Confederation program coordinator Rob Plummer was approached by a driver seeking help for an unconscious passenger. Plummer and his students gathered their equipment and assisted the individual by administering first aid and naloxone to address an apparent drug overdose and save the individual’s life. “Incidents like this demonstrate the importance of real-world training and the incredible capabilities of our students,” said Plummer. “Their response was swift, professional, and compassionate. I couldn’t be more proud of their actions.”

Scholars from the University of Manitoba and the University of Saskatchewan have secured funding from the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers to advance weed science and pulse crop research. UManitoba Assistant Professor Dr Dilshan Benaragama has received $686K to develop weed management strategies for pulse and soybean crops using herbicides, cultural practices, and drone spot spraying. USask Professor Dr Steve Shirtliffe was awarded $2.47M to create a collaborative kochia management framework for pulse crops. These investments are part of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers’ broader $3.67M funding round, which supports a total of five research projects over six years.

Okanagan College and the University of Calgary have each announced tuition increases. Okanagan has increased domestic student tuition by 2% and international student tuition by 4.8% for the 2025/26 academic year. The changes will come into effect in September 2025. International students beginning their studies in Fall 2026 will see a 40% tuition increase under a new model that realigns how international student tuition is calculated. At UCalgary, tuition will increase by 2% for domestic undergraduates and students in master’s course-based diplomas and certificates. International undergraduates and master’s course-based diploma and certificate students will face a 4% increase. These changes will take effect in May 2025.

Memorial University’s unions are reacting to the institution’s recently announced hiring freeze and budgetary restrictions. The lecturers’ union, faculty association, and students’ union have each raised concerns about the proposed changes and attributed the university’s financial challenges not only to this year’s enrolment drop, but also to ongoing provincial funding cuts. In a statement for CBC, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell said that over 70% of Memorial’s operating revenue comes from the provincial government. Howell added that she is confident the university is making helpful decisions to address its “[…] budget issues as part of the implementation of the recommendations from the auditor general’s report in 2023.”

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently released the results of the second cycle of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, which assesses the foundational skills of working-age adults. Out of 31 participating countries, Canada ranked in the top 10 for literacy, numeracy, and adaptive problem-solving. The Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC) noted that higher education plays a critical role in skills development, as adults with at least a bachelor’s degree level of education consistently outperform those with lower levels of education. “Canada’s strong performance reflects not only the quality of its education systems but also the resilience of its workforce in adapting to global challenges and crises,” said CMEC.