May 28, 2026

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) has released a report on youth employment in Canada. The report outlines the labour market conditions for youth, the factors potentially contributing to high youth unemployment rates, and the risks that youth unemployment poses for Canada’s future. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of coordination across federal, provincial, and territorial governments. The committee offered 16 recommendations for how the Government of Canada can better support youth employment. The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations issued a statement welcoming the recommendations and urging the government to take them into consideration.

Dalhousie University’s Dalhousie Centre for Psychological Health will receive $6.2M over the next three years from the Government of Nova Scotia. At this centre, students learn how to provide compassionate, responsive care while offering free psychological care to people who face barriers to support. The funding will extend the centre’s clinical psychology residency program for two years. “The Centre for Psychological Health provides valuable training opportunities for our clinical psychology PhD students, ensuring they are well prepared to serve individuals with varied and complex needs in the future,” said Dalhousie Centre for Psychological Health Co-Director Alissa Pencer.

Postsecondary institutions in Vancouver are preparing for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which will take place in June and July. The University of British Columbia has announced that its National Soccer Development Centre will serve as the base camp for Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team. Vancouver Community College has changed access to its downtown campus during the World Cup, with public access to the campus limited on match days. VCC encouraged community members to consider taking transit, walking, or cycling to campus on match days.

The Digital Research Alliance of Canada has made a $15M investment to build the Distributed Storage and Compute Grid, which will be hosted at seven postsecondary institutions in Alberta, Ontario, and Québec. This scalable storage and compute infrastructure will support researcher workflows at the national scale. “Canada’s research future depends on our ability to bring compute, data and people together into one connected national system,” said Digital Research Alliance of Canada CEO Michael Schull. This infrastructure will be hosted at McGill University, Red Deer Polytechnic, Université Laval, Université de Sherbrooke, the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, and Western University.

The Government of Ontario has invested $6.92M in 34 agri-food research projects through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance, a collaboration with the University of Guelph. Many of the projects will be hosted at Agricultural Research and Innovation Ontario centres managed by UoGuelph and will focus on a wide range of crop and livestock resilience topics, including the prevention of pepper wilt, drone-based pollination systems, and nutrition management strategies in pig farming. “By supporting the facilities, partnerships and environment needed for innovation, we’re helping ensure Ontario’s agri-food sector remains resilient, competitive, and positioned for long-term growth,” explained ARIO Board Chair Nevin McDougall.

Polytechnics Canada is the latest postsecondary organization to submit their pre-budget recommendations to the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Finance. In their recommendations, they call on the Government of Canada to invest $100M per year to support Applied AI Research Grants and implement a $10M yearly research security framework for polytechnics and colleges. They also recommend utilizing postsecondary capacity to support national defence objectives, establishing a Train Canada Strong Pass to encourage upskilling, and scaling capacity to reduce apprentice waitlists.

Collège Montmorency and Université de Bordeaux in France have signed a mobility agreement relating to the partners’ administration programs. Beginning next Fall, Collège Montmorency will host students from the university’s Gestion Administrative et Commerciale des Organisations program, while the Université de Bordeaux will host students from the cégep’s Techniques d’administration et de gestion program. Prior to the commencement of the exchange, the partners plan to analyze the educational objectives of their programs and identify courses which may be eligible for recognition. In a second phase, Collège Montmorency will explore similar agreements with two additional Université de Bordeaux institutes.

Loyalist College has received a $750K gift from the John M & Bernice Parrott Foundation in support of its new Medical Radiation Technology lab. The lab will provide students with a space for hands-on training in diagnostic imaging. “By investing in Loyalist students and the learning spaces that make hands-on training possible, the Foundation is helping prepare the skilled professionals who will use that equipment, care for patients and serve communities across our region for years to come,” said Loyalist President Mark Kirkpatrick.

Cégep Drummond’s Centre collégial d’expertise en gérontologie has been selected by the Government of Québec to host training that aims to help prevent elder abuse. Developed in collaboration with Éducaloi, training will cover legal details related to abuse, support elder abuse prevention, and promote elder rights. It will be targeted towards seniors, caregivers, and health and social service professionals. Starting in August 2026, Cégep Drummond will provide a minimum of 51 training sessions across the province, as well as virtual training.

Queen’s University student Eitan Zur has launched a platform to solve a problem he experienced at the end of the school year: Leftover meal plan credits. Through Zur’s TAMExpress website and app, upper-year students are able to purchase leftover “Trade-A-Meals” (TAMs) credits from first-year students at a discounted price. These credits allow students to purchase food at retail locations beyond the campus dining hall. “I’m really just trying to save people some money,” Zur told The Whig Standard. Zur said his app had returned $2K in total to first-year students across the three weeks it operated.