Northern Alberta colleges and polytechnics deepen ties with new agreement

Five colleges and polytechnics in northern Alberta have signed a new agreement to collaborate more closely to broaden educational pathways for students in the region. 

The agreement between Keyano College, Lakeland College, Northern Lakes College, Northwestern Polytechnic and Portage College, announced on March 14, is the first of its kind in northern Alberta. 

Glenn Mitchell, president of Northern Lakes College, told CBC the collaboration has three main areas of focus: enhanced student access, mobility, and improved learner outcomes.

"This will be the result of the shared development of new programs that will be made available in the region," Mitchell said. 

The memorandum of understanding paves the way for formalized transfer agreements and credential recognition between the institutions. 

It should make it easier for a student moving from one institution to another, Mitchell said. 

"There will be no need for students to have to repeat a course because the requirements at one institution are different than the requirements at another institution," he said. 

Mitchell said the institutions see the need to come together to offer the programs that Alberta's north requires and wants. 

Vanessa Sheane, president of Northwestern Polytechnic in Grande Prairie, said in a news release that "strengthening the ties between our institutions is a natural solution that will boost regional competitiveness and help mitigate current and future workforce challenges."

Keyano College enhancing its health-care programs 

Some northern institutions emphasize their health-care education program offerings, and are working on expanding them. 

Keyano College in Fort McMurray will receive $2 million from the provincial government, if this year's budget is passed, to improve and develop its in-demand programs, like nursing and paramedicine, to help address labour needs in Alberta's health-care system.  

"Keyano College has done some tremendous work in the past in terms of turning out great graduates in the health care field. And so we're happy to invest more and provide additional capital dollars," said Advanced Education Minister Rajan Sawhney at a news conference in Edmonton on Tuesday. 

Across its various health care and human services programs, the college will graduate more than 200 students this year. 

"We do anticipate that a lot of them will choose this community in this region following graduation. So let's retain them and help fill that shortage, that gap that we know is expected within the field in the coming years", said Keyano president Sandra Efu in an interview. 

"We know that when individuals train and study in a particular community, they're more likely to stay and practice within that community," Efu said. 

"So we want to make sure that we're continuing to attract and retain talent to provide the necessary health training within this community and within this region." 

Workforce benefits

This emphasis on health-care training, together with the collaboration agreement with other institutions, could yield considerable benefits for the region's workforce, according to Kathy Howe, executive director at the Alberta Association of Nurses.

"I think these decentralized programs are so good for outlying areas that are away from Edmonton and Calgary in particular, and are so much better for the community and such a great opportunity for students," she said. 

Howe said that an important benefit of increasing health-care education in the north is that having more graduates will take some pressure off of the current workers. 

"As more nurses come on, as more shifts are filled, as there's more people to pick up some slack during holiday time —that absolutely [is] going to go a long way to retaining nurses, because they're going to have a good work-life balance," she said.  

"More health-care providers are going to make it easier on those that are already there."