May 5, 2025

Postsecondary institutions across Canada are drawing attention to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people on Red Dress Day. Several institutions, including Mount Saint Vincent University and the University of Prince Edward Island, installed displays to encourage learning and reflection. Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Waterloo are holding events providing opportunities for engagement such as sacred fires, crafts, and talks. Others encouraged their campus community members to take action in specific ways: UPEI invited staff to hang a red dress in their department or office, SKG encouraged the campus community to wear red, and UWaterloo gave suggestions such as learning the names of missing and murdered Indigenous women from their region or attending an event.

Statistics Canada has announced the release of three major datasets with relevance to postsecondary education. The new Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program data tables now include data from 1990 to 2023. These tables detail the educational attainment and labour market outcomes of the 25-to-64-year-old population in Canada. The results of the National Graduates Survey (NGS) for the class of 2015 are also now available. This dataset includes information on postsecondary graduate demographics, work-integrated learning participation, and labour market outcomes. The third is a new fact sheet outlining trends in the proportion of youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET) for 2023/24. This fact sheet highlights the connection between NEET trends and changes in the Canadian labour market, before discussing trends in NEET rates by various different demographic groups.

The Government of Québec Minister of Higher Education Pascale Déry has reportedly indicated that the provincial government is not planning to provide any further funding to support QC universities. La Presse reports that institutions such as the Université de Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, and several members of the Université du Québec network have announced deficit budgets for the upcoming year. Université du Québec à Rimouski Rector François Deschênes called for QC to give greater consideration of an institution’s region when determining funding, adding that that institutions that serve vast areas with low population density are facing very different challenges than those in major urban centers.

The Government of British Columbia has proposed new legislation that, if approved, will speed up permitting and approvals in order to allow major infrastructure projects to be built faster. The legislation would speed up approvals for projects that have been designated as provincially significant. BC states that the act will enable the ministry to work with postsecondary institutions to complete some infrastructure projects on their behalf and ensure that projects are delivered efficiently and cost-effectively. “This legislation will allow us to work closer with government on projects that our students need so we can deliver faster and help strengthen our communities,” said University of Northern British Columbia President Geoffrey W Payne.

In an article for the Chronicle of Higher Education, Beth McMurtrie discusses how US institutions are addressing the phenomenon of “fake students” or “ghost students” in online courses. These fraudsters enrol in courses in order to take advantage of financial aid and/or use an official email address to conduct phishing scams. With AI, McMurtrie writes, these students can disguise themselves further by taking part in class assignments and quizzes. McMurtrie highlights a variety of ways that faculty members and staff are attempting to identify and deal with these fraudsters, such as by manually reviewing certain applicants during the enrolment process or requiring students to attend a video call at the start of the course. She further discusses some of the state-wide and federal efforts underway to protect the US education system from this fraud.

Collège Boréal and Pôle entrepreneuriat – HEC Montréal have partnered to launch the Innovation and Entrepreneurial Financing project. This three-year initiative will foster collaborations between Ontario-based and Quebec-based entrepreneurs. This partnership is structured around four priorities: education and training, entrepreneurial project development, entrepreneurial network creation, and program sustainability. “This initiative will not only spark innovation and new growth opportunities on both sides but also foster a space for knowledge exchange, networking, and co-creation,” said HEC Montréal Professor Luis Felipe Martinez Cisneros.

Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB) has announced changes to its program offerings for the 2025-26 academic year. The college is launching 10 new program cohorts in areas such as information technology, childcare services management, and the skilled trades. It will be suspending a total of eight programs across the Acadian peninsula and Bathurst campuses and will be reassigning the staff affiliated with these programs to other roles or projects. CCNB CEO Pierre Zundel commented that the IRCC’s international student policy reforms have hampered the college’s ability to help meet the labour market needs of the province, as more than 40% of the work opportunities in NB will need to be filled by immigrants.

Brock University and the University of Portsmouth in England have announced a partnership that includes the creation of dual-degree offerings in multiple faculties. The first dual-degree programs—which will launch in 2026—will focus on computer science and sports science and management. Students will earn a degree from both institutions by completing three years of a program at their home university and one year at the partner institution. “With international experience at two world-class institutions, graduates will gain the skills and global perspective needed to excel in competitive fields and create meaningful change at home and abroad,” said BrockU President Lesley Rigg.

Polytechnique Montréal and École Polytechnique in France have extended a collaboration agreement focused on student mobility and research. This agreement formalizes several areas of collaboration, including short-term incoming and outgoing student mobility, a dual-degree program, and student research internships. The partners will also collaborate with the tech sector to respond to the current challenges facing engineering universities.

University leadership is welcoming the new federal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney. University Affairs author Hannah Liddle discusses the Liberal Party of Canada’s campaign promises and their potential impact on universities. Among these, Liddle noted the $2B pledged towards student and senior housing, promises to further invest in attracting researchers to Canadian institutions, and the proposed creation of a capstone organization for federal research funding. Universities Canada President Gabriel Miller and U15 Executive Director Chad Gaffield both highlighted how their respective organizations or members are looking forward to working with the new government. Liddle concluded by noting that postsecondary leaders are interested in having a more holistic conversation about research and innovation.