February 27, 2026

The University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus and the Weston Family Foundation have co-developed a prescribed fire training program that will be used across Canada. The program is designed to teach learners how to use fire as a land management tool to support biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, as well as to reduce wildfire risk. Programs will be based in five regional hubs located in Western, Northern, Central, Eastern, and Atlantic Canada, with each hub tailoring its training to local environments and governance structures. The university describes the program as a first of its kind, with Canadian Prescribed Fire Training Program Director Dr Mathieu Bourbonnais explaining that the program addresses a lack of pathways and training in the use of prescribed fire.

Statistics Canada has released a report on the provincial and national retention of health degree graduates over time. By examining T1 Family File (T1FF) data, the authors found that the three-year retention rate for health degree graduates was higher than the overall average across all degree fields for both domestic (95% vs 92% overall) and international (68% vs 58%) graduates. When examining regional retention, the authors found that fewer Canadian graduates in the Atlantic provinces and Alberta remained in their province of graduation three years later, relative to those in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Ontario.

Memorial University’s Board of Regents has approved its Indigenous Verification Policy after a consultation process that involved more than 15 Indigenous Nations, communities, and organizations. The policy will help ensure that opportunities intended for Indigenous people are held by Indigenous people, with decision-making authority resting with Indigenous peoples. There are three verification pathways: Two allow applicants to confirm their identity by submitting primary documentation or secondary documentation, while the third is reserved for those who have experienced incidents of displacement. “This policy strengthens our accountability to Indigenous Peoples while ensuring that Indigenous-specific opportunities are administered with integrity,” said Memorial President Janet Morrison.

In an article for Inside Higher Ed, reporter Kathryn Palmer explores how higher ed has responded to the recent appearance of Einstein, an agentic AI that can complete a course from beginning to end. Einstein’s creator stated that he values learning and education, but that he believes the current version of education—which he says has developed into “credentialism”—must change. Palmer spoke to faculty members and ed tech experts who commented on how this tool is forcing higher ed to reconsider the “transactional” model of higher education and find a way to protect the value of online credentials. Education technology experts also emphasized the need for AI and education technology developers to implement guardrails to help create an environment that is more conducive to human learning.

Humber Polytechnic is launching a voluntary employee exit program for employees in response to continued financial challenges. The program is available to all full-time employees including the executive team and will provide financial packages to those who indicate their interest before the deadline on March 9th. “These choices are difficult, but necessary. They reflect the scope of our financial challenge, rather than the performance of our people,” said Humber President Ann Marie Vaughan in the letter to employees. Following the deadline, the polytechnic will assess participation to determine if there is a need for further reductions.

The Université du Québec à Montréal has announced two programs that will launch this Fall. The redesigned dance baccalaureate program incorporates new topics, such as urban dance or Indigenous perspectives. Students will also be able to pursue a new concentration in social practices that will prepare them to incorporate dance into social or cultural interventions. The second program is an environmental program focused on climate, environmental, and socio-territorial challenges, where students will learn to develop nature-based solutions. The program will contain hands-on learning opportunities in the form of case-based field trips to community, municipal, and government partners.

Northern College has signed memorandums of understanding with two postsecondary institutions: Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development in Egypt and Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic. The college states that these agreements are focused on sharing resources, curriculum, and expertise with the international universities. “We live in an increasingly connected world, where we can share information and ideas instantly;” said Northern President Mitch Dumas. “These agreements allow us to collaborate across continents, to learn from each other, share experiences, and support student and faculty mobility globally.”

In a piece for the Chronicle of Higher Ed, Hannah Pittard (University of Kentucky) describes how requiring students in her first-year English class to write by hand has helped them to think and focus more deeply. While she worried that her technology policy would sound like “someone’s difficult aunt,” Pittard found that requiring students to handwrite all their assignments forced them to not “outrun [their] own thoughts” thoughts and provided evidence of their efforts even when they chose to cross out text. She writes that many students expressed their appreciation for the in-class assignments and felt that they became better writers. “The surprise, for me, wasn’t that the handwriting worked. It was how quickly it worked,” writes Pittard.

Mount Allison University and Three Nations Education Group Inc have renewed their five-year MOU, which is focusing on strengthening pathways for Indigenous learners. The partners plan to expand the partnership in several areas. Among these is the expansion of the Connecting Indigenous Students and Communities initiative, which will build connection, belonging, and skill development for learners in three partner communities through mentorship. The university shared that participants in this initiative have been more engaged in their studies, have felt a deeper sense of belonging, and had a more successful transition into postsecondary education.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s faculty union is questioning the absence of the university’s president, reports the Vancouver Sun. The Kwantlen Faculty Association (KFA) sent a message to faculty stating that the official installation of KPU President Bruce Choy has been postponed and that scheduled meetings with Choy have been cancelled. KFA stated that it sent a formal written inquiry to the KPU Board of Governors about the status of the president and requested details on any formal designation of an interim president; Surrey Now-Leader reports that the board has appointed KPU VP Diane Purvey an acting president. The faculty association has also planned a special general meeting next week, which they say will be focused on discussing governance concerns.