The Editor,
Across Ontario, colleges are facing a crisis as programs are being shuttered. St. Lawrence College, serving the communities of Cornwall, Brockville and Kingston, has recently eliminated 55 programs and over 150 jobs with more faculty job losses to come in the months ahead.
Ontario’s college system was built to serve local communities, training the skilled professionals who keep our province running: healthcare workers, tradespeople, business and office professionals. You’ll find graduates in every sector, from tourism to policing, from welding to entrepreneurship. These graduates don’t just work in Ontario’s cities; they power small towns and rural communities, living and contributing to their communities.
Canada needs college graduates. Ontario needs college graduates.
We want strong communities where people can live and work and study. We want college programs that are grounded in the needs of the communities they serve . Yes, that means colleges need to make changes. They’re making them to be fair. But they also need enough funding to do the job properly.
It’s time for the province to step up, to recognize that college graduates are the backbones of small communities across Ontario, and to invest in sustainable, long-term funding. The colleges and the province must work together… colleges to develop the programs that communities need and that support Ontario’s goals to “rebuild the economy” and the province to fund the colleges adequately so that Colleges aren’t forced to rely on stopgap measures.
The future of Ontario’s workforce depends on it.
Denise Nielsen
Professor, St. Lawrence College
