October 31, 2025

George Brown College has announced its official transformation into George Brown Polytechnic. “This transformation is not just a name change; it signifies our commitment to advancing education and workforce readiness,” said GBP President Dr Gervan Fearon. Speaking to the Globe and Mail, Fearon explained that the polytechnic designation better represents the full scope of the institution’s offerings. As part of the announcement, the institution also shared that it is launching a one-year Master of Construction Management program. The program is designed with flexible delivery options to accommodate the needs of working professionals.

The Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute has brought together 29 Canadian postsecondary institutions to form the consortium of the AI Workforce Readiness (AIWR) program. The consortium is focused on helping students develop AI literacy and skills. Members of the consortium will collaborate with Amii educators and other members to develop open-source teaching materials that integrate AI skills into existing programs and courses. Amii CEO Cam Linke said that the national collaboration will “[empower] both instructors and students […] with the necessary AI literacy skills and resources.”

Statistics Canada has released a summary of the results of its Elementary-Secondary Education Survey. They report that from 2022/2023 to 2023/2024, enrolment in Canadian public schools increased by 2.3% amid a Canadian population increase of 3.2%. On the front of interprovincial migration, Alberta (3.6%) recorded larger enrolments stemming from this phenomenon while Ontario saw much of the enrolment growth from immigration offset by out-migration. French immersion and minority language enrolments continued their decline in most provinces and territories from peaks in 2020/2021. Compared to 2018/2019, the number of educators rose by 5.2% across the country and the proportion of educators working at 55 years of age or older rose from 12.9% to 13.8%.

Northwestern Polytechnic has announced that it will be transitioning to a single campus model to mitigate its budget shortfall and ensure future sustainability. NWP explains that a review of the satellite campus in Fairview determined that the campus’s operations and finances were not sustainable and not meeting the needs of local students and industry. As a result, the polytechnic will be closing the campus after the 2025-26 academic year concludes and moving select programs to the Grande Prairie campus for Fall 2026.

The Canadian Association of University Business Officers and Universities Canada are launching a joint initiative to strengthen the postsecondary education sector’s financial and mission sustainability. Through this initiative, university leaders and policy experts will document the current challenges facing the sector, share innovative practices, and identify actionable solutions to safeguard the sector’s long-term sustainability. “This collaboration is grounded in a shared commitment to help member institutions identify the levers and partnerships needed to drive meaningful change,” said CAUBO Executive Director Nathalie Laporte. “By connecting insights across the sector, the initiative will surface solutions that strengthen resilience and sustainability.”

Simon Fraser University has become the first Canadian member of the Aurora European Universities network. The network is an alliance of research-intensive universities focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As a Global Member, SFU will contribute to the network’s efforts on the front of educational innovation, equity-driven inclusion, and sustainability. SFU has also signed an MOU with Universität Innsbruck, a member of the network that it shares research strengths and focuses with.

Dalhousie University has unveiled its new marine biodiversity centre—the Beaty Centre for Marine Biodiversity—which will open to the public later this year. The centre features more than 30 marine exhibits and tanks, as well as English, French, and Mi’kmaw on exhibit displays throughout. “Dalhousie is known around the world for its ocean research but often has limited opportunities to showcase our work here at home,” said Dal Professor Dr Boris Worm. “We are thrilled to welcome our community into this space that we hope will inspire the next generation of ocean scientists, guardians, and entrepreneurs.”

The Université du Québec à Montréal has announced its intent to develop an action plan focused on inclusive education. Earlier this year, UQAM adopted an inclusive education policy that seeks to create a university environment that is free of barriers to access, academic progression, and participation in university life. UQAM vice-rectrice à la Vie académique explained that the university is confident in each student’s ability to succeed on their own, as long as they are in a fair and stimulating learning environment without unjustified barriers. The university will form a committee in Winter 2026 and task the committee members with developing an action plan.

In a new article for University Affairs, Letitia Henville explains how to articulate the “so what” of a proposed project—the scholarly benefits and outcomes—when applying for a SSHRC Insight Development Grant. Henville begins by describing common pitfalls of applications, including promising unrealistic scholarly outcomes and failing to specify impacts and to whom they will matter. She then proposes breaking down scholarly significance into four categories: Direct contributions to knowledge, indirect contributions to knowledge, contributions to methodology, and contributions to theory. While most projects will not be able relate to all four categories she says, researchers should ensure alignment between categories delivered by their project and categories discussed in an application so that committee members can truly understand the benefits of the project.

Selkirk College President Maggie Matear recently spoke to the Nelson Star about the decision to shut down college’s fine arts campus. Matear explained that the programs were ultimately too expensive to run due to factors such as the small instructor-to-students ratio. “We had a whole building set aside for a maximum of 33 students and we needed 10 staff to support them,” said Matear. “So it becomes very difficult when we are trying to manage an empty wallet and a lot of community priorities.” The college will meet with local arts organizations to discuss the future of the arts programs. As for Selkirk, Matear stated that the college is focused on programs that meet the needs of local communities and industry and reflect life in the Kootenays.