Losing our competitive advantage in an increasingly competitive world
Every day university researchers across Canada and around the world are conducting extraordinary research, but Canada still isn’t making the most of these discoveries by turning them into innovative products to sell globally. Innovation requires momentum. It requires not only concerted effort by researchers pursuing bold and risky ideas, but also deep connections with those […]
Canadians are concerned about the mental health of health workers; they should be
If the health workforce was a patient, it would be in critical condition. The public seems to get it. New results of a nation-wide survey by the University of Ottawa, conducted among members of the Angus Reid Forum from March 4-8, 2022, paint a troubling picture of how we feel about health workers. Overall, nine […]
Conflict prevention, grassroots peacebuilding best way to help Afghan people
Mohammad Zaid has been working in peacebuilding in Afghanistan for nine years. The current situation weighs heavy on him and his work. “It feels,” says Zaid, whose name we are not using for safety and security reasons, “like we’ve gone from driving to reverse. As a peacebuilder, I’ve always been positive, but there’s a limit […]
Sajjan’s mandate offers welcome focus on education in Canada’s international development policy
With its December release of new minister mandate letters, the Trudeau government built on the directions and goals previously stated in the November Speech from the Throne by detailing specific directives to each minister on the priorities of their individual portfolios. As expected, as Canada’s newest international development minister, Harjit Sajjan’s priority is to support […]
Polytechnics can help fill Canada’s talent gaps
When I ask business leaders what keeps them up at night, it is not only about supply chains, inflation, or rising commodity prices. The No. 1 concern is about talent. How do I fill critical staff vacancies in a tight labour market? Where can I find workers who are digitally literate? How can my employees […]
Approach to skills must be reinvented in post-pandemic Canada
The transition from education to workplace and beyond used to be relatively straightforward: high school, post-secondary, job market, promotions, management, retirement. In today’s environment, with new complexities related to technology, shifting global markets, a desire for work-life balance and the speed of change, skills require constant reinvention. Now more than ever before, the business community […]
Fixing post-secondary education key to fixing social inequities
This past February, Laurentian University—an important institution for francophone, Indigenous, and Northern Ontario students—declared insolvency and drastically reduced jobs and programs, cutting mathematics, midwifery, and more. The significance of this story has not been lost on the federal political parties during a federal election. In a tight race for votes in a city devastated by […]
International students struggle to come to Canada amid COVID-19 variant concerns, says Universities Canada president
COVID-19 variants of concern and the pandemic’s fourth wave are impeding the movement of international students seeking to attend Canada’s universities, making this fall a critical time for the federal government to take action to ensure student mobility, according the head of Universities Canada. “September is the largest intake point in the calendar for international […]
Investment goes beyond supporting the institutions themselves
On Sept. 8, nearly all of Lethbridge College’s 5,000-plus students returned to campus to start the school year. While we’d been able to safely offer some in-person classes and labs throughout the 2020-21 academic year—with as many as 400 students per day on-campus—this was as close to a full campus as we had seen since […]
Investing in people and ideas for Canada’s recovery
For those in the education sector, September is always a time of hope and promise. This year, those hopes are tempered by threats of a fourth wave of the pandemic. But to see students arrive on campus, to see residences and classrooms open safely, and to see researchers back in labs at higher levels gives […]
