Alberta government to fund 16 new collegiate programs for career preparation
Money will more than double the number of collegiate school programs in Alberta
Alberta's education ministry will fund 16 new school collegiate programs to increase opportunities for students looking for an early jump on careers.
Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says $27.5 million already in this year's budget will fund space modifications, equipment and startup costs for the new programs, which will begin in September.
New collegiates will focus on training in various vocations, including skilled trades, technology, aviation, business and first responders.
"If an individual has a strong passion for a particular area and they know they want to go into that area, let's help accelerate their journey," Nicolaides told CBC News Thursday. "Let's help accelerate their high school programming, their post-secondary programming, and get them into those occupations as quickly as we can."
Nicolaides is announcing the details in a Calgary airport hangar Friday afternoon.
This year's startup funding recipients include Edmonton's public and Catholic school divisions, the Canadian Rockies school division in Banff in southern Alberta, the Northland School Division in northern Alberta and the Medicine Hat public and Catholic school divisions.
Alternative form of education
A "collegiate school" is a program in the junior- or senior-high grades at a public, Catholic, francophone, charter or private school, that tailors a student's education for a specific career path.
Nicolaides said students must be offered hands-on learning, and connected with post-secondary institutions and employers to either earn some post-secondary credits during their training, or line up prospective work after graduation.
The province now has 12 active collegiate programs, including five that began in fall 2023, according to the Education and Childcare Ministry. The funding announced Friday will also help four existing collegiates to improve their facilities.
Brock Foster is an aviation student at the Fusion Collegiate in Calgary. He said that his time in the program has strengthened his understanding of the aviation industry, and has even allowed him to make connections with other people in the field.
After finishing the program, he said his goal is to become a commercial pilot.
"I went from not knowing what to do, and they exposed me to what life has to offer and where where to start," he said.
"You pick up a lot of skills ... hands-on training is is really important to to sort of get you on that path."
The minister received 18 funding applications to start new collegiates, approving 16 of them, ministry press secretary Garrett Koehler said in an email.
The government has also budgeted $8 million, for each of the next two fiscal years, to create more collegiate programs, Koehler said.
Edmonton public school board chair Julie Kusiek said collegiates could provide a space for students to explore a variety of career opportunities they never would have considered.
"It's really important that we help kids to engage in their learning in ways that are really interesting for them, that help them imagine what their futures might be like to be able to explore different career opportunities," she said.
"We'll be able to expand what we currently offer when it comes to industry partnerships, when it comes to experience out in the field, dual credit, working on your high school."
High schools and post-secondaries to collaborate
The school board is weighing how interested students are in some of the new programs. Kusiek said currently, more than 200 students from 55 different schools have expressed a formal letter of interest in participating in some of the collegiates.
"We shared this news with families earlier this month and the response has been really positive. People are excited," she said.
Peter Leclaire, NAIT's vice-president academic, said he's working with high schools across Edmonton to develop a more collegiate-centred curriculum.
"This provides a breadth of experience about those opportunities and it starts to make a connection between skilled labour and skilled trades being in short demand, and it starts to identify a path on how a student can get to that opportunity," he said.
Nicolaides said he doesn't have a target number of total programs in mind, as the proposals come from schools and divisions.
The programs are a worthwhile investment because employers in some sectors struggle to find skilled workers, he said.
"We need more young people to enter into particular occupations," he said.
"If we can pair people up and move them through the training process a lot faster, there's significant benefit to the economy and industry."
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