Top Ten News

Jan 15, 2025 • BC, MB, NL

Memorial University, Red River College Polytechnic, and Vancouver Community College have each announced special bursaries and tuition waivers to encourage enrolment and make postsecondary education more financially accessible. The Memorial Faculty of Medicine Vision Program has launched a new pathway for applicants with low socioeconomic status, which includes an application fee waiver, a bursary toward the seat deposit, and funding for MCAT and Casper exam fees and preparatory materials. RRC Polytech will waive application and seat deposit fees for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit learners for the month of January. VCC is offering one-time early admission awards for the first group of students to accept their offer of admission in select programs.

Memorial, RRC Polytech, VCC

Top Ten News

Jan 15, 2025 • National

In an article for The Conversation, Yvonne Su (York University) writes that Canada’s political leaders, media outlets, and think tanks are repeatedly framing international students as the main source of the country’s societal woes. The author argues that this practice unfairly demonizes international students, many of whom are now facing increasing incidents of racism and discrimination. Su underlines that scapegoating international students also sidesteps crucial opportunities to solve Canada’s systemic problems relating to housing, asylum, health care, and education. “We need to change the narrative so that politicians and media stop vilifying international students and focus on systemic solutions,” concludes Su.

The Conversation

Top Ten News

Jan 15, 2025 • QC

Concordia University has created a new web resource series to support sustainability learning worldwide. The Education for Sustainability’s open-access resources identify opportunities and offer support to teachers on how to embed sustainability into curriculums. There are three components to this series: a pressbook that offers a “how-to guide” for integrating sustainability into education; sustainability co-design stories and case studies, blog stories, and one-pagers; and faculty co-created content. “Through the contributions of faculty members dedicated to sustainability at Concordia and the support of Florence Grüter as curriculum developer for sustainability, we have been able to create high-quality, open-access resources to help educators worldwide integrate sustainability into their teaching,” said Concordia Manager for Curriculum Innovation and Development Julie Johnston.

Concordia

Top Ten News

Jan 15, 2025 • International

When an institution is facing difficult enrolment circumstances, it is critical that they avoid falling into an “enrolment dilemma,” writes Theresa Billiot (Little Priest Tribal College). Billiot explains that an enrolment dilemma—when efforts to increase enrolment come at the cost of student retention and satisfaction—can easily arise when an institution is engaged in recruitment efforts for the sake of survival. However, failing to implement strategies that support students through to graduation can also have consequences for the institution’s financial sustainability. Billiot encourages institutions to pursue a more holistic approach that treat sretention metrics as equally important to new enrolments. While acknowledging that this is a difficult balance to strike, the author asserts that the future of institutions hinges on their ability to treat students as individuals rather than statistics.

The EvoLLLution

Top Ten News

Jan 15, 2025 • QC

The Institut national de la recherche scientifique has unveiled a new Chair in Nanobiophotonics, which will be co-led by INRS professors Marc A Gauthier and Jonathan Perreault. The chair is interdisciplinary, involving the fields of pharmaceutical chemistry, molecular biology, immuno-oncology, ultrafast imaging, and biophotonics. “In concrete terms, [this chair’s research] could lead to significant advances in precision medicine and more effective diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in immuno-oncology, among other medical applications,” explained Perreault. The position is funded by the INRS Foundation.

INRS, QC

Top Ten News

Jan 15, 2025 • PEI

The University of Prince Edward’s campus food bank has implemented a new online registration system. Using this system, students can register online for the food bank and choose the items they would like to include in their baskets. UPEI has also opened a new pick-up location in the W A Murphy Student Centre and hired a dedicated coordinator to manage the service. “Moving [the food bank] to this new distribution system, which allows students to register ahead of time, will hopefully reduce some of the stress that they experience while waiting for food,” said UPEI Manager of Student Culture and Community Standards Jonathan Hewitt.

CBC

Top Ten News

Jan 15, 2025 • ON

Ontario Student Voices (OSV)–which represents more than 125,000 college and polytechnic students–is calling for increased investments into accessible work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities. Specifically, OSV is calling for a WIL bursary program that would help students cover placement-related expenses and for the implementation of standardized assessment processes to evaluate students’ financial needs for WIL. These investments, OSV argues, would help ON to meet the increasing demand for skilled workers in key sectors like health care, manufacturing, and construction. “The workforce crisis is not just a challenge—it’s an opportunity,” states OSV. “By investing in postsecondary students through accessible WIL programs, Ontario can address its skills gap while fostering economic growth.”

OSV

Top Ten News

Jan 15, 2025 • QC

Cégep Limoilou has launched a new course for working professionals that focuses on influencer marketing. Le Soleil explains that the influencer industry is a growing area in marketing and communications. The online course is designed for social media content creators, entrepreneurs, and communications and marketing specialists looking to grow their knowledge and skills. It will cover topics such as legal and accounting considerations, how to set rates and sell influencer services to businesses, and using digital platforms. Course instructor Denis Martel told Radio-Canada that though the profession has received a bad reputation, its popularity and growth warrants its attention from the educational community.

Cégep Limoilou, Le Soleil, Radio-Canada

Top Ten News

Jan 15, 2025 • ON

Georgian College recently received approval from the Ontario College Athletic Association (OCAA) to launch a women’s varsity rugby sevens team. The Georgian Grizzlies will become the ninth women’s rugby sevens team in the OCAA varsity league. “A women’s rugby sevens team is a thrilling addition to Georgian’s stellar lineup of award-winning varsity teams,” said Georgian VP, Student Success Suzie Addison-Toor. “It also aligns with our commitment to foster diversity, equity and inclusion within our athletic programming.” Georgian will commence student athlete recruitment in February and begin the inaugural season in September 2025.

Georgian

Top Ten News

Jan 15, 2025 • QC

Université du Québec à Montréal’s Centre Pierre-Péladeau and Espace St-Denis are partnering to bolster the appeal and services of their venues and strengthen the appeal of Montréal’s Quartier Latin as a cultural destination. Pierre-Péladeau directeur général Guy Vannese explained that the collaboration is mutually beneficial because the two venues are complementary to one another. Under this partnership, the two venues will pool their resources on fronts such as ticketing and marketing. They will also explore opportunities for further collaboration on cultural activities and initiatives that will make the neighbourhood more dynamic and inviting.

UQAM