On December 20th the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) issued a call for proposals in a news release titled “Guiding Growth in Ontario’s Postsecondary Education System.“ This news release provided some details on the government’s earlier promise to expand the university system by establishing three new campuses (of existing universities) where there is significant demand. Since Timmins is the only city of its size without access to an English-language University, the TEDC has been working hard to get the MTCU to choose Timmins as one of these three sites.
The Major Capacity Expansion Policy Framework defines criteria for where these three campuses will be located. The facility must:
- handle enrollment of more than 1,000 FT students in short term and 5,000 to 10,000 in long term
- have 70,000 square feet designed for academic purposes
- offer broad range of programs
- significantly improves student access to post secondary education.
Working together with municipalities, universities’ and colleges’ expansion proposals must submit a proposal to be considered. Even though the City of Timmins does not meet all of these criteria, we will be submitting a proposal to:
- Locate a university campus in the city to service the northeastern region (because it is an ideal strategic solution for English-language university education).
- Enable Northern College to establish three year degree granting accreditation.
The TEDC has so far made five attempts to partner with various Ontario Universities. Because of the need for science and engineering programs in the north, we can’t partner with just any university; we have to partner with one that offers these programs. To this point, unfortunately, all of our efforts have been unsuccessful.
However, the TEDC and the University Committee will continue to work on a solution to the need for English-language University education in Timmins. For more information on the progress of this project, please get in touch with Cathy Ellis, Director of Community Development at the TEDC.
