March 21, 2025

The Government of Saskatchewan has released its 2025-26 Budget: a balanced budget with a surplus of $12M. The budget allots $788M to the Ministry of Advanced Education for investments into postsecondary education, as well as $718.2M to postsecondary institutions for operating and capital funding. The budget emphasizes health-care training and commits SK to continuing to expand health training seats. It also includes funding for scholarships and the Student Aid Fund, as well as a 20% increase to the Graduate Retention Program. SK added that it is extending its current multi-year funding agreement with postsecondary institutions by an additional year, which includes a permanent $12M increase to base funding and a one-time $6M (1%) increase to operational funding.

The Government of Canada recently made two announcements related to the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy funding program intended to support training in the skilled trades. Canada is investing $67M through the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy Sustainable Jobs funding stream to help train 29,000 tradespeople over the next five years. Canada also recently issued a call for proposals for the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy’s Investments in the Training Equipment stream, which will support the purchase of training equipment and materials. Canada states that eligible organizations include “training providers that provide technical training to apprentices as part of a recognized apprenticeship program or a Red Seal trade.”

York University faculty and staff are reportedly pushing back against the institution’s recent actions, which include restructuring and program admissions suspensions. Four members of the university’s senate and a member of the academic planning and research committee have submitted an application for a judicial review of the admissions suspensions. According to the Canadian Press, the applicants assert that the suspensions require the senate’s involvement and approval. The university stated that it will review the application and respond “in due course.” The Toronto Star also reports that the York University Faculty Association (YUFA) voted to support a non-confidence motion calling on the university president and interim provost and VP academic to step down. In a statement, YUFA pointed to the “reputational damage, stress, mistrust, and frustrations caused by the ‘restructuring’ actions.”

Four postsecondary institutions have made this year’s Montréal Top Employers list. The annual competition is produced by Canada’s Top Employers and recognizes the city’s leading employers. Concordia University and Université de Montréal were each recognized for their maternity and parental supports, which included leave top-ups and on-site daycares. McGill University’s President’s Award program—which recognizes administrative and support staff with awards of up to $5K—was also highlighted. Polytechnique Montréal was celebrated for its improved mental health coverage.

Confederation College and Seneca Polytechnic have partnered on a sharing agreement that will create new opportunities for students. Confederation and Seneca will share faculty expertise, facilities, and resources to maximize program delivery efficiencies and expand access to education for students across Ontario. The collaboration’s initial focus will be on aviation programming, with the institutions also exploring a potential veterinary technician program model in Northwestern Ontario. “By leveraging our combined expertise and resources, we can better prepare career-ready and world-ready graduates who will address critical skill shortages and support the growth of key industries,” said Seneca VP, Business Development and International Marianne Marando.

MaKami College has launched the Mak-a-Mini Childcare centre, a full- and part-time daycare program on its Edmonton campus. This daycare will offer care for children aged 1 to 5 years old. Mak-a-Mini Childcare comprises seven rooms as well as outdoor play spaces; it will begin operations with three rooms for children in different age groups. “Childcare availability is limited in this area and this will be especially convenient for any of our students who have been struggling to find childcare, since it will be located right in our school for easy pickups and drop-offs,” said MaKami President Marija Pavkovic-Tovissi.

The University of New Brunswick will add seats to two of its education programs in order to help meet the growing provincial demand for teachers. Starting this Fall, UNB will add 55 seats to the 10-month Bachelor of Education (BEd) program and 60 seats to the online BEd Early Childhood Education program. These seats will be filled by those have been waitlisted for these programs. “The UNB community has crafted a plan to bolster one of our most crucial sectors—education,” said UNB President Dr Paul J Mazerolle. “By expanding these two key programs, we hope to graduate an additional 115 teachers within the next two years.”

The Centre national intégré du manufacturier intelligent (CNIMI)—which is powered by the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and Cégep de Drummondville—will receive part of a $2M investment from the Government of Québec to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in their digital shift. This investment from QC aims to make Industry 5.0 more accessible to improve the productivity of the province’s manufacturing companies. It will help industrial expertise centres, like CNIMI, offer personalized support, training, workshops, and technology demonstrations to accelerate digital project development among SMEs. CNIMI will receive $500K of this investment.

Cape Breton University’s Forever CBU campaign has received a pledge of almost $500K from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM). This donation will go towards CBU’s buildings, infrastructure, and student scholarships. CBC reports that CBU President David Dingwall requested a donation worth $5 per person based on the municipality’s population, which reached nearly 105,000 in 2023. The council agreed, with Mayor Cecil Clarke noting that CBRM could draw on a potential budget surplus or could spread the funding out over several years. “It will be part of a bigger list of things, and again I hope that the year-end surplus may be enough that we can accommodate this and other priorities,” said Clarke.

Students at Okanagan College and Selkirk College are benefitting from new learning opportunities thanks to support from organizations in British Columbia. Okanagan’s culinary school received 2,000 pounds of Arctic char from Road 17 Fish Farms. Students gained hands-on experience in large-scale food preparation as they processed the fish and delivered them to an organization that will use them to feed those in need. Selkirk has partnered with FortisBC, the Community Energy Association, and RDH Building Science on a pilot project that will offer carpentry program students the opportunity to learn about high performance window installation. The program includes three days devoted to a hands-on project that will prepare students to install windows in high performance homes.