July 29, 2025

The City of Antigonish and St Francis Xavier University recently partnered to host the 2025 Special Olympics Nova Scotia Provincial Summer Games. Over 9,000 athletes, coaches, and supporters from across the province came together for a variety of competitive sports and events, including basketball, golf, and rhythmic gymnastics. “More and more people are getting more aware of [the Special Olympics in NS],” said Special Olympics Nova Scotia Coach Geoff Tyler, who has coached for over 10 years. CTV News reports that the games serve as qualifiers for the 2026 National Summer Games, which will be held in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

As part of a broader federal investment into French-language health services, several postsecondary institutions in Atlantic Canada have received funds to support health care training. The Government of Canada says that the broader investment is intended to help improve access to healthcare in French outside of Québec. Postsecondary institutions will receive a combined $32M to support training initiatives, while $9.4M will support a national health consortium led by the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne. Radio-Canada reports that Collège de l’Île, Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick, Université de Moncton, and Université Sainte-Anne will expand their health-related training programs and prepare more bilingual and Francophone health professionals for the workforce.

Conestoga College and Fanshawe College have each announced staffing changes and restructuring as they continue to respond to financial challenges. Conestoga has reportedly eliminated four high-level employees—two senior VPs and two deans—and restructured its leadership team. CBC reports that other senior positions have received expanded job portfolios. Meanwhile, Fanshawe is reportedly moving forward with its workforce reduction, which is anticipated to affect approximately 35% of staff or 400 positions. CTV News reports that the college has offset layoffs with early retirements and unfilled vacancies.

Institutions across Canada are welcoming youth to their campuses for special programs and camps this summer. Several universities gave youth hands-on opportunities to expand their scientific knowledge: Laurentian University hosted the Shad Canada program, where Grade 10 to 11 students learned about STEAM and entrepreneurship; at the University of Lethbridge, high school students had the opportunity to work in the university’s lab facilities; and at the University of Manitoba, a summer camp offered Grade 6 to 12 students the opportunity to engage with biomedical sciences. Confederation College and Sault College both hosted Skills Ontario’s Trades and Tech Summer Camp, where Grade 7 to 9 students learned about the skilled trades. The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology hosted a camp for Grade 8 to 11 students from the Montana First Nation that introduces them to the campus and programs.

The University of British Columbia Okanagan is introducing two nursing-focused micro-credentials. Participants in the Caring for Select Populations in Primary Care Nursing micro-credential will learn to deliver culturally safe, trauma-informed care to people who face barriers to accessing medical services or have health challenges. The second micro-credential—Health Promotion, Prevention and Screening in Primary Care Nursing—will prepare nurses to be leaders in preventative care. As part of the course, participants will learn how to design community health initiatives. These two programs are open to registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, as well as final-year nursing students.

Postdoctoral researchers are more likely to be able to access time on scientific equipment when their application process is made anonymous, according to research done at Australian facilities by John Carpenter and Isabelle Kingsley (University of New South Wales). An intervention showed how the introduction of a blind review—which shifts the focus from the scientist to the science and thus disrupts any “prestige bias”—affects who gets access to scientific equipment. At one facility, postdoctoral researchers received more time with the equipment, while application success rates for more experienced researchers dropped; at another, the time allotted to postdoctoral researchers stayed the same. Kingsley said that these results suggest that “anonymization can level the playing field” and support diversity in science.

Brock University and Bridges Niagara have renewed a Memorandum of Understanding that affirms the organizations’ commitment to supporting newcomers and promoting equity and inclusion. The goal of the agreement is to ease the transition for newcomers arriving in Niagara. The partnership has supported a variety of research and community outreach efforts to date; it places a key priority on student engagement, with Brock community members contributing to placements, volunteer initiatives, and community-based projects. Brock President Lesley Rigg said that the partnership “represents a commitment to continue building a more inclusive and just Niagara through community-academic partnership.”

In a recent piece for University World News, Julia Orupabo (Institute for Social Research, Norway), Marjan Nadim (ISR), Marte Mangset (University of Oslo), and Sigtona Halrynjo (ISR) discuss their recent study of academia’s ideal worker norm and how academics navigate this in the Norwegian context. The authors write that scholars often feel they must choose between scholarly success and family life. They propose that permanent contracts—rather than gender—might be what really enables resistance to total work devotion. Additionally, the authors highlight how academics are redefining success by eschewing the narrative of staying in academia at all costs, resisting or refusing undervalued tasks, and asking what kind of academic they want to be.

York University has launched the Ask Me campaign, an initiative which aims to help those who are new on campus feel welcome. Faculty, staff, and students from YorkU’s three campuses can sign up as ambassadors. These ambassadors will wear an “Ask Me” badge while they are on campus during the beginning of the semester. This badge signals that they are available to answer questions, provide directions, and offer support to students and colleagues who are new to campus.

A recent report published by the American Association of University Professors explores the development of AI and educational technology and the resulting impacts on academic labour. Drawing on a survey of AAUP members from across the US, the report authors outlined key areas of concern, including the need for related professional development opportunities, the issues around a lack of transparency with ed tech, and academics’ concerns about their changing working conditions. The report authors outline recommendations for how institutional leaders, faculty members, and government bodies can act on each of these concerns. John Warner of Inside Higher Ed discusses the report’s considerations for AI and academic freedom, underscoring the finding that faculty have been absent from ed tech development for too long.