July 26, 2023

The Government of Canada has launched 581 internship positions in the field of environmental science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Through the federal Science Horizons Youth Internship Program, four companies—BioTalent Canada, Clean Foundation, Colleges and Institutes Canada, and ECO Canada—will place recent graduates in internships for 2023-2025. The placements are meant for youth aged 15-30 who have recently graduated from a university, college, or polytechnic. The program aims to empower the next generation of thinkers in STEM, helping them to develop their career portfolios and enhance the country’s research and innovation capacity.

The Northern Collaborative Baccalaureate in Nursing Program has renewed its national accreditation for the next five years and its BC College of Nurses and Midwives recognition for the next seven years. The program is offered collaboratively by Coast Mountain College, College of New Caledonia, and the University of Northern British Columbia. Students begin their studies at either of the colleges and complete their studies in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at UNBC. This process allows learners from northern BC to complete their studies without leaving the region. “Attending the program in a smaller city with a rural hospital provides students with countless opportunities to experience hands on learning in situations that students may not have the opportunity to experience in larger centres,” explained NCBNP graduate Chrystal Sande.

The Government of Ontario has announced an investment of over $8M in 47 research and innovation projects that aim to increase the productivity of the agri-food sector and advance the next generation of agri-food innovators. This funding is provided through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance, a partnership between the ON Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs and the University of Guelph. The funded projects include an initiative to address food insecurity impacting Northern Ontario First Nations communities, a study to manage soybean pests, and an initiative to diversify the value chain of the brewing industry.

The University of Regina’s Dementia Supports in Rural Saskatchewan (DSRS) team has opened a memory clinic in the Esterhazy District Medical Clinic in partnership with the University of Saskatchewan’s Rural Dementia Action Research (RaDAR) team. The Esterhazy memory clinic will be led by Dr Mandi Nel and will provide assessment and management support for people with symptoms of or concerns about dementia and memory loss. “The RaDAR memory clinics provide access to dementia diagnosis and support in rural communities, saving travel to specialists,” said USask Professor and Chair of Rural Health Delivery Dr Debra Morgan. “We are excited to launch another clinic in Esterhazy with the outstanding team there.”

Keyano College is exploring new opportunities to support physicians training in Alberta. Keyano President Jay Notay told CBC that the college would like to work with the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta to train doctors in Fort McMurray, with the intent of encouraging graduates to stay and practice in the city. CBC notes similar projects being undertaken in other cities and reports that Keyano is interested in “joining the conversation.”. “[T]he intent is to do the same thing or similar up here,” said Notay. The article goes on to highlight the creation of new medical schools and added medical seats at institutions across Canada. President of the Alberta Medical Association Dr Fred Rinaldi noted that it will take a decade to see results from training initiatives in AB and that AB needs to address other issues that are keeping doctors from practicing in the province.

The Nanaimo News Bulletin reports that Vancouver Island University is projecting a deficit of $12.6M for the 2023-24 academic year, a shortfall that echoes a growing trend since 2019-20 for the university. In an email to Nanaimo News, VIU said that the consecutive deficits stem from the fact that enrolment figures have not returned to pre-COVID levels, as well as the adverse impacts of “record inflation.” In response to the deficit, VIU will increase domestic student tuition by 2% and international student tuition by 5%. The university also said that it will prioritize student recruitment and retention in its budget strategy moving forward.

The University of Waterloo’s WatSPEED and D2L have partnered to offer WatSPEED courses on the D2L Wave Platform, which provides employees with online professional development and learning opportunities. The collaboration will focus on providing working professionals with the opportunity to continue learning to remain competitive in their careers. “WatSPEED courses are responsive to emerging trends and designed to help professionals and executives keep pace with new technologies and stay at the forefront of innovation,” said UWaterloo associate vice-president, innovation Sanjeev Gill. “By collaborating with D2L Wave, we are poised to empower even more professionals and business leaders to thrive, which helps grow the economy and strengthen communities.”

Scholars from the Global South are calling for change when it comes to north-south research collaborations. Virginia Gewin of Nature writes that the Global South is negatively affected by researchers from the north who use inequitable research practices like drop-in or “helicopter” research, where studies are conducted without meaningful involvement from southern researchers. Gewin shares the experiences and perspectives of researchers such as Ocean Mercier (Victoria University of Wellington), Samia Chasi (International Education Association of South Africa), Aline Ghilardi (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte), and Minal Pathak (Ahmedabad University). The researchers discuss the changes they would like to see in north-south collaborations, including earlier and more meaningful engagement, repatriation of research materials removed from the South, and addressing tokenism and gatekeeping.

The Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick and Université de Moncton have both reached out to the surrounding community to find solutions to the student housing shortage. CCNB has proposed a series of a management agreements with New Brunswick landlords. Under this agreement, local landlords can rent out rooms that become a type of “residence;” CCNB would take responsibility for evaluating the suitability of the housing, assigning students accordingly, and managing the payments to the local homeowners. So far, 15 agreements have been signed, representing a total of approximately 90 rooms. Last week, UMoncton launched a similar appeal where it asked community members to consider renting their empty rooms to students starting this fall.

A study out of Penn State University recently found that the postsecondary community is a popular target for email-based scams. The study found that universities are often the target of phishing and cyberscams because they have “massive, open directories of emails” and are home to “traditional-aged college students” who may lack the experience to spot scams. University Business notes that the number of online scams directed at the postsecondary students increased significantly between 2014 and 2022. The study found that while the nature of these scams has evolved over time–from email account scams to personal request scams, and now more commonly employment opportunity scams–their potential to cause financial harm and reveal personally identifiable information remains significant.