September 29, 2026

Lambton College has received a $1M donation from BMO to support student wellness over the next 10 years. Funding will support expanded peer training and enhanced programming for the Lion’s Mind Peer Wellness Collective, as well as continued support for the Lion’s Heart, the college’s on-campus food bank and clothing closet. “At Lambton College, we know that student success is deeply connected to student well-being,” explained Lambton President Rob Kardas. “This is an investment not only in our students, but in the strength and well-being of the communities they will go on to shape.”

The North Island College community gathered last week to celebrate the opening of its Centre of Excellence in Learning. The centre will serve as a learning space for Early Childhood Care and Education students. At the opening ceremony, K’ómoks First Nation gifted a traditional name of qʷənɛs—an Ayajuthem word for “whale” in reference to a landmark visible throughout the Comox Valley—to the centre. With this expansion, an additional 75 childcare spaces have been created at the Beaufort Children’s Centre, with priority given to children of NIC staff and students.

Western University has received a $1M donation from author Margaret Atwood in honour of her late partner and fellow writer Graeme Gibson. The Graeme Gibson Chair in Avian Biology will seek to understand how birds move, behave, and adapt to their environment. When appointed, the chair will take advantage of Western’s Centre for Animals on the Move, Western’s Advanced Facility for Avian Research, and connections with the Pelee Island Bird Observatory to support their research. “Birds are the canaries in the coal mine,” explained Atwood. “They indicate the health of an ecosystem.”

Statistics Canada has published a study of the employment income trajectories of childhood immigrants—and their Canadian-born counterparts—who became certified journeypersons through apprenticeship completion or trade qualifiers. The study examined annual employment incomes at five different points in time and found that childhood immigrants had lower incomes than their counterparts at every time point. There were notable differences between trades: In several industrial and mechanical trades, childhood immigrants made significantly less than their counterparts, but they outperformed the salaries of Canadian-born journeypersons in select construction trades. StatCan concludes that the study outcomes could inform policies at supporting skilled trades training pathways, labour mobility, and earnings equity.

In several cities over the weekend, police were present to monitor homecoming parties and other student activities. In Halifax, Halifax Regional Police shut down 27 unsanctioned parties and issued 36 tickets during Dalhousie University’s homecoming weekend. In Guelph, a large crowd of students took over Chancellor’s Way during the University of Guelph’s homecoming festivities. BlogTO reports that the crowd became unruly, with people climbing buildings and police needing to use pepper spray. In London, a street party on Broughdale Avenue near Western University was declared a nuisance party and cleared. In Hamilton, a judge denied an injunction request from the city before McMaster University’s homecoming weekend. The judge noted that in the past, parties have continued regardless of an injunction in place. Wilfrid Laurier University worked closely with the City of Waterloo and implemented security measures in preparation for the weekend.

Queen’s University has affirmed its commitment to sustainable water stewardship by joining the Blue Universities network. The network links postsecondary institutions around the globe through the Blue Communities, which have the common belief that water and sanitation are human rights. Queen’s is the ninth Canadian university to join the network. “The goal of our water justice movement is that one day, everyone, everywhere will have safe access to clean public water and sanitation,” explained Blue Community Movement founder Maude Barlow. As a member under the Blue Communities project, Queen’s will work to align its efforts with the City of Kingston, which joined the project in 2011.

Dan Edelstein (Stanford University) writes that the humanities can learn from the approaches used by “service departments” which offer required courses for all majors to reach non-major students. Edelstein encourages departments to focus on offering courses that students want to take, that are delivered in a discussion seminar format to provide students with a contrast to their typical lectures, or that involve topics or books that are discussed in a thoughtful, educated way. “[T]here are many ways to make the humanities more accessible and enticing to undergraduates, if we’re willing to experiment,” concludes Edelstein.

McGill University researchers Chanhong Cao and Justin Puma were among a team awarded this year’s Ig Nobel Technology Prize for their work with mosquito-based 3D printing. Dubbed “3D necroprinting,” the process involves using proboscides (mouthpieces) from deceased mosquitos as nozzles to print highly precise structures. Researchers noted that while traditionally manufactured micro-nozzles can cost upwards of $80 each and can be extremely brittle, mosquito proboscides are cheaper, consistent in size, and made of 100% organic material. Researchers hypothesize that this technology could one day be used to produce detailed components like microfluidic chips.

Durham College has brought together its applied research, institutional research, co-op, and corporate training teams under a single identity: Research, Innovation and Training Services (RITS). Durham VP, Innovation and Research Debbie McKee Demczyk explained that RITS will combine the college’s business development and relationship management strengths with its research centres’ technical and research expertise. “Together, the team provides a single point of connection for our partners and creates measurable impact for people, organizations, and communities,” concluded Demczyk.

Great Plains College has announced that it will add a February 2027 intake to its Electrician program. Students in this 18-week program will spend around 40% of their time in the shop applying concepts they learn in class. They will receive credits through Saskatchewan Polytechnic. “Skilled trades are an important part of our regional workforce, and providing opportunities for students to gain hands-on, industry-relevant training is an important part of meeting that need,” said Great Plains Interim President Keleah Ostrander.