YC to Join Canadian Colleges on the Hill

Yukon College will be on Parliament Hill next week helping to promote the value of community colleges as a central part of Canada’s economic and social development.

Karen Barnes, Vice President of Education and Training, will participate in the Association of Canadian Community Colleges on Parliament Hill event on November 16th and 17th. Barnes will gather in Ottawa with 100 other college representatives, including the President of Yellowknife’s Aurora College and the President of Nunavut Arctic College, to highlight the value of their institutions and to demand a fair share of post-secondary funding. “Yukon College is part of national system and we’re coming together in Ottawa to use our collective voice to garner support for community colleges across the country,” Barnes says.

The group will meet with politicians including, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff, to highlight the need for more support for community colleges.

Community colleges offer applied learning opportunities which help to support the private sector’s need for applied research, innovation and technology. Barnes says the government needs to invest heavily in these institutions to enhance the country’s productivity, increase the number of jobs and to be a leader in innovation.

Currently tens of thousands of qualified students are turned away from Canadian colleges, yet the supply of graduates fall short of employers demand.