Opinions

More and more Canadians with a Bachelor’s degree are attending college to enhance their skills with hands-on training and real-world experience, according to data in the 2021 Canadian census.

The latest census showed that nearly one in five college students in Canada, or 19.4 per cent, had previously completed a Bachelor’s degree or higher. In Ontario, that number sits at 25.8 per cent.

Read More > “More Graduates are Heading to College to Enhance their Skills after Earning a Bachelor’s Degree”

As champions of lifelong learning, polytechnic institutions develop innovative and industry-responsive upskilling and reskilling programs, preparing learners to re-enter the workforce or start new careers. This kind of focused, career-oriented training is a great way to address labour shortages and skills gaps in the Canadian economy.

Polytechnics Canada recently connected with Maria Ryden, Product Strategist for Continuing Education and Professional Studies at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). She told us about the Applied Product Management Bootcamp program, a unique micro-credential designed to empower early- and mid-career professionals to upskill or discover new career opportunities in an increasingly digital world.

Read More > “Upskilling and Reskilling Spotlight: Applied Product Management Bootcamp at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology”

Polytechnic institutions offer expert-led, industry-relevant training for high-performance talent. In this Q&A series, graduates from across our member institutions discuss how a polytechnic education helped propel their success in diverse fields.

Polytechnics Canada sat down with Ilona Monkman, a lifelong learner and graduate of Saskatchewan Polytechnics’ Health Information Management (HIM) program. She is the HIM practitioner at the Sturgeon Lake Health Centre on Sturgeon Lake First Nation. In this interview, Monkman explains how her education at Saskatchewan Polytechnic provided her with the skills needed to launch a career that entails managing critical health information.

Read More > “Polytechnic Alumni Spotlight: Ilona Monkman, One of Canada’s First HIM Professionals to Work in a First Nations’ Health Centre”

Published in 2021, Innovation in Real Places explores the fundamentals of innovation policy, the billions spent around the world to achieve innovation-based economic growth and key takeaways for policymakers.

The book is authored by Dan Breznitz, best known as the Chair of Innovation Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto.  He also is the Co-Director of the Innovation Policy Lab and a Fellow at CIFAR.  More recently, Breznitz has been working at the Department of Finance, where he is tasked with injecting new thinking into the Canadian government’s innovation policy, working out of the Deputy Minister’s office.  He is involved in the development of the new Canadian Innovation and Investment Agency but is also thinking more broadly about the modernization of the National Research Council and how best to increase productivity across all sectors and regions of Canada.

Read More > “Book Summary: Innovation in Real Places by Dan Breznitz”

As champions of lifelong learning, polytechnic institutions develop innovative and industry-responsive upskilling and reskilling programs, preparing learners to re-enter the workforce or start new careers. This kind of focused, career-oriented training is a great way to address labour shortages and skills gaps in the Canadian economy.

Polytechnics Canada recently met with Alice Wright, Partnership Lead at the SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health Learning Institute (SickKids CCMH LI), Neill Carson, Executive Director, The Garry Hurvitz Centre for Community Mental Health at SickKids (GH-CCMH), who is one of the facilitators in the program, and Frank Cappadocia, Dean of Continuous Professional Learning at Humber College. They spoke with us about the Excellence in Mental Health Leadership micro-credential, a program that provides leadership training to new and emerging leaders in Ontario’s community mental health sector.

Read More > “Upskilling and Reskilling Spotlight: The Excellence in Mental Health Leadership Micro-credential at Humber College”

Polytechnic institutions offer expert-led, industry-relevant training for high-performance talent. In this Q&A series, graduates from across our member institutions discuss how a polytechnic education helped propel their success in diverse fields.

Polytechnics Canada sat down with Rahul Singh, a graduate of Humber College’s Paramedic program. He is the founder of GlobalMedic, a frontline medical agency that provides cost-effective disaster relief around the world. Through this agency, Singh has led more than 50 missions to over 30 countries. He has been awarded the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2006 and was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2010 for his work with GlobalMedic. In this interview, Singh explains how his education at Humber provided him with the skills needed to lead an innovative and impactful aid organization.

Read More > “Polytechnic Alumni Spotlight: GlobalMedic Founder, Rahul Singh”

As champions of lifelong learning, polytechnic institutions develop innovative and industry-responsive upskilling and reskilling programs, preparing learners to re-enter the workforce or start new careers. This kind of focused, career-oriented training is a great way to address labour shortages and skills gaps in the Canadian economy.

Polytechnics Canada recently connected with Dr. Veronique Boscart, who at the time of publication, was the Executive Dean of the School of Health and Life Sciences at Conestoga College, and Michelle Heyer, Chair of Seniors Care at Conestoga. They told us about the Canadian Remote Access for Dementia Learning Experiences+ (CRADLE+) program, an online dementia care training program spearheaded by the Canadian Institute for Seniors Care at Conestoga. Available in multiple languages, this free training explores evidence-informed, person-centred approaches to supporting people living with dementia.

Read More > “Upskilling and Reskilling Spotlight: CRADLE+ Program at Conestoga College”

Polytechnic institutions offer expert-led, industry-relevant training for high-performance talent. In this Q&A series, graduates from across our member institutions discuss how a polytechnic education helped propel their success in diverse fields.

Polytechnics Canada sat down with Meti and Massi Basiri, two 2014 graduates of Conestoga College’s Business Administration – Marketing Advanced Diploma Program and Fitness and Health Promotion Diploma Program. They are co-founders of ApplyBoard, the world’s largest online platform for international student recruitment and one of the fastest growing technology companies in Canada. The pair has also been named to three different Forbes 30 Under 30 lists. In this interview, Meti and Massi explain how their education at Conestoga provided them with the skills needed to found a unicorn start-up.

Read More > “Polytechnic Alumni Spotlight: ApplyBoard Co-founders, Meti and Massi Basiri”

As 2022 comes to a close, we are facing a post-pandemic reality that needs polytechnic education more than ever. Among the solutions they offer, polytechnics help address labour shortages and pressing climate change challenges. They are helping business partners overcome obstacles to innovation and offering students state-of-the-art training spaces. They also ensure the values of equity, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of their work, finding new ways to reach broader audiences and underrepresented communities.

We have identified a few examples of the impact our members made this year:

Read More > “2022: The year in review”