Category: Building Campuses of the Future

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April 24, 2023

Investing in our planet today ensures a sustainable community for the future

Did you know that April 22 (this past Saturday) was Earth Day? Earth Day encourages citizens around the world to be more environmentally conscious and do their part to contribute to a greener society. The theme “Invest in Our Planet” highlights the importance of dedicating time, resources, and energy to solving climate change and other environmental issues.

The climate emergency is happening now. SDG 13 challenges us to take urgent action to combat the global challenge and its impacts.

As educators, we provide students with job-ready skills to contribute to the green economy. As a network of innovators, we develop solutions to climate challenges through applied research. And, as community residents, our campus infrastructure demonstrates net-zero and sustainable design. For example:

  • At Saskatchewan Polytechnic, the Energy and Resources Lab is a hub for all energy-related applied research and training programs, focusing on sustainable and alternative-energy technologies, smart grids, and the construction of energy-efficient homes.
  • At Nova Scotia Community College, the Energy Sustainability Engineering Technology (ESET) program gives students the opportunity to develop skills in energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable design, and contribute to climate change mitigation.
  • At Nunavut Arctic College, the Environmental Technology Program gives students hands-on experiences to learn the necessary skills to find employment as environmental practitioners in fields like natural resource management, waste management, environmental protection, and more.
  • At Cégep de Jonquière, the Centre TERRE (Technologies des ÉnergiesRenouvelables et du Rendement Énergétique) is a research and learning centre that specializes in green technologies and renewable energies, including wind, water, sun, and bio energies.
  • At BCIT, the Zero Energy/Emissions Buildings Learning Centre offers courses and programs that help construction practitioners better understand the details of specific provincial energy codes and learn how to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from the existing building stock.
  • At George Brown College, the Limberlost Place is a mass timber, net-zero building that will (soon) be home to the Brookfield Sustainability Institute (BSI), a community learning hub dedicated to sustainability. The Limberlost Place is currently under construction and is set to welcome students in January 2025.
  • At Medicine Hat College, the Sustainable Innovation diploma challenges learners to broaden their perspective and create new products, services, systems, and processes that develop long-term solutions and address all 17 SDGs, including SDG 13 Climate Action.

As a country, we are heading towards net-zero. As a sector, colleges and institutes are leading the way. Our members are investing in our planet by preparing industries and learners for the net zero economy.

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February 27, 2023

Innovation starts with a challenge (SDG 9)

What do you get when you combine a college or institute, a small business, and a challenge? We’ll give you a hint – it’s one of Canada’s strongest motors for innovation and a fundamental part of Canada’s largest postsecondary network. The answer is applied research.

It’s more important than ever that we think creatively about economic, social, and environmental challenges and applied research is key to this. Unfortunately, innovation is often underfunded. In fact, while (in 2020) OECD countries invested an average of 2.67% of GDP on research, Canada spent just 1.84%. Imagine what we could achieve if we invested more strategically.

In communities all across the country, businesses (especially SMEs and entrepreneurs) and community organizations come to their local college or institute with a problem. Think: how can I make my product more efficient, with less waste? Or: how can I make the services my organization provides more inclusive?

Across nearly 700 campuses, colleges and institutes provide would-be innovators with access to state-of-the-art facilities, specialized equipment, and technical experts to help them advance their businesses. In real numbers, that expertise led to 8,000 total research partnerships, over 6,400 applied research projects, 5,500 new processes, products, prototypes, and services in every year (based on most recent data, 2019-2020).

Here are just a few of the many examples of applied research boosting innovation in our communities:

  • At the Engineered Technology Applied Research Lab (Nova Scotia Community College), applied research has led to the development of a cost-effective water-filtration solution for the predominantly black community in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. The student project focused on creating a versatile remote sensor system (VRSS) used to collect data in wells or on land to better understand environmental conditions.
  • At Lion Electric (working with the Innovative Vehicle Institute at Cégep de Saint-Jérôme) applied research means the developing of a new school bus with electric motorization. Once complete, this project became a turning point for Lion Electric as they converted their offerings to 100% electric buses and trucks.
  • At Contextere (working with Algonquin College), applied research means the developing of the Advanced Virtual Assistant (AVA) application, now named Madison. This Microsoft Teams-integrated application makes it faster to retrieve information about machinery operation and technical issues encountered by workers in the field. The platform facilitates a 50% reduction in non-productive time and a 40% reduction in safety incidents for companies who use it.

Each year, more and more Canadian businesses and community organizations of all sizes benefit from real solutions to business challenges led by colleges and institutes. Each year, more students gain valuable work experience and skills by participating in cutting-edge research projects. Forty-two thousand students to be exact, in just one year (2019-2020). And each year, more Canadians benefit from innovation that contributes to the long-term sustainability of Canadian industry.

The college and institute innovation landscape across Canada is a best kept secret, but we need the proper resources to get the word out, and help it grow. To build stronger, more resilient communities, it is essential that we give college and institute leaders the resources they need to maximize the impact of Canada’s largest network of innovators.

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February 13, 2023

Safe spaces are essential spaces for learning (SDG 16)

Colleges and institutes are often the primary access points to post-secondary education for vulnerable groups like women; Indigenous and racialized people; LGBTQ2+ and non-binary individuals; and newcomers. Statistically, these are also the same groups that are more likely to experience violence.

SDG 16 challenges us to promote peaceful and inclusive societies that ensure people all over the world can go about their lives free of fear from all forms of violence, no matter their gender, race, or sexual orientation. For colleges and institutes, that begins on campus. And it includes providing safe and inclusive spaces, resources to those in need, and equipping learners with the skills to help prevent future violence in their communities.

Read also: As educators, colleges and institutes play a vital role in combatting systemic racism and discrimination. In areas like healthcare and public safety, they ensure that workers are given tools to protect public spaces against injustice, now and in the future. (SDG 10)

  • That includes having policies in place that recognize systemic racism and discrimination and aim to address the challenges to success that BIPOC often face.

Safe spaces are essential spaces for learning. Our nearly 700 college and institute campuses across the country, aim to be those spaces at the heart of their communities.

Continue the conversation this week on Perspectives LIVE! The 2020’s have brought new meaning to the term ‘health and safety’. From mental health, the pandemic, and the alarming increase of violence, attending to health and safety on college and institute campuses has never been more important.

  • Episode 3 of season 3 airs Wednesday. We’re asking experts: How can colleges and institutes better prepare and protect themselves while also providing safe spaces for their students, faculty, staff, and the communities they serve?
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November 28, 2022

If you build it, they will come. (SDG 9)

Infrastructure. It brings to mind huge public projects like roads, subways, bike lanes, water supply, electrical grids, and telecommunications. But, public infrastructure encompasses everything that we deem critical for our cities, countries, economies, and households to function. Now what about the elements we deem critical to function sustainably?

SDG 9 challenges us to build resilient infrastructure in a way that promotes sustainable industrialization and fosters innovation. Did you know that there are over 140 publicly supported colleges and institutes in the country with a total of nearly 700 campuses located within 50km of over 95% of Canadians and over 86% of Indigenous people? The role our members play in their communities goes well beyond post-secondary credentials – they provide everything from newcomer support to R&D services to local industry.

  • Our network’s footprint is unmatched, so investing in college and institute infrastructure has a direct, local impact in communities across the country, in a variety of areas.

Infrastructure is deeply tied to our ability to innovate and grow sustainably. As Canada’s largest post-secondary network, our members have over 300 shovel-ready infrastructure projects (valued at over $3.5 billion) 62% of which include renovations, repairs, and retrofits to improve energy efficiency and reduce campus GHG emissions.

We are also vital community hubs that lead social and economic development across the country. Investing in colleges and institutes as infrastructure projects brings net-zero leadership directly to campuses across the country, while continuing to deliver cutting-edge green skills training accessible for all Canadians, where they live. In the context of Budget 2023:

  1. To build the next generation of campus infrastructure, we recommend: Creating a new Green Postsecondary Infrastructure Fund, with a minimum of $500 million a year over five years being dedicated to helping colleges achieve net zero emission campuses. (SDG 13)
  2. To support a net-zero economy, we recommend: Undertaking an inventory of critical strategic skills infrastructure to ensure that Canada has the training space available to meet the needs of key economic sectors. (SDG 8 & SDG 13)
  3. To bring the future to all communities, we recommend: Investing $100M over five years in a new network of 50 College Sustainability Centres across Canada to leverage college and institute assets including campus infrastructure, industry, and community partnerships to meet Canada’s net zero goals. (SDG 9 & SDG 13)

Must read: Canada needs futureproofing; colleges and institutes are the solution. We have seven recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee of Finance (FINA) as part of its most recent round of pre-budget consultations.

For further reading:

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October 31, 2022

We believe a strong network of colleges and institutes is a vital public good

Let’s get real about “recovery”! Since the start of the pandemic, society has undergone (and is still undergoing) a huge shift – and it isn’t getting any easier. Facing inflation, labour shortages, large-scale economic transformations, and a climate crisis, we need a good plan to rebuild Canada’s workforce, address inequality, and transition to a net-zero economy. Where do colleges and institutes fit into all this?

We believe a strong network of colleges and institutes is a vital public good. Colleges and institutes make learning accessible to everyone in their communities, no matter their background or circumstances. As partners in innovation, they make space for every innovator. And as skills providers, they make sure that everyone has an opportunity to find meaningful employment.

We make sure colleges and institutes see themselves in the national agenda, and that the federal government sees our members in theirs. That’s what budget season is all about. This year, we have seven recommendations to ensure decisions makers in Ottawa can tap into the expertise and maximize the potential of Canada’s largest postsecondary network.

  1. To drive business and community innovation, we recommend: Doubling the impact of the Tri-Council College and Community Innovation Program through a new $331M investment over five years, with a permanent increase of $85M per year ongoing. (SDG 9)
  2. To build a futureproof workforce, we recommend: Adopting measures to address systemic labour shortages now and into the future. (SDG 8)
    • This includes developing career road maps for key industries, re-aligning federal training and learning programs to support employment transitions, and creating permanent residency streams for international students.
  3. To build the next generation of campus infrastructure, we recommend: Creating a new Green Postsecondary Infrastructure Fund, with a minimum of $500 million a year over five years being dedicated to helping colleges achieve net zero emission campuses. (SDG 13)
  4. To support a net-zero economy, we recommend: Undertaking an inventory of critical strategic skills infrastructure to ensure that Canada has the training space available to meet the needs of key economic sectors. (SDG 8 & SDG 13)
  5. To bring the future to all communities, we recommend: Investing $100M over five years in a new network of 50 College Sustainability Centres across Canada to leverage college and institute assets including campus infrastructure, industry, and community partnerships to meet Canada’s net zero goals. (SDG 9 & SDG 13)
  6. To keep our commitment to Reconciliation, we recommend: Working with national Indigenous organizations, Indigenous institutes, colleges and universities to address ongoing barriers to postsecondary education for Indigenous peoples and to integrate land-based learning and Indigenous ways of knowing in postsecondary programs. (SDG 4 & SDG 10)
  7. To support a global future, we recommend: Increasing support to developing countries to build capacity in their skills development systems, recognizing the critical role education and skills training play in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Help share the college and institute story in Ottawa and beyond! Now is the time to reach out to your local members of parliament to share how we can maximize the impact of colleges and institutes and help make Canada futureproof.

  • Ask your partners to be vocal too! (The more of us speaking up, the more likely we are to be heard).
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October 3, 2022

Artificial Intelligence is here, and it’s growing (SDG 8 & SDG 9)

You may not think about it, but artificial intelligence impacts our lives every day. But what is AI, anyways? It’s not all robots and self-driving cars. The theories of AI and Big Data allow businesses, organizations, and government to analyze huge data sets to identify patterns, trends, and other information that can help them make better decisions.

AI is here, and it’s growing (hastened in many ways by the pandemic). In fact, the Harvard Business Review reported last year that 52% of companies accelerated their AI adoption plans because of the COVID pandemic. Eight-six percent said that AI (once considered science-fiction) was becoming a mainstream technology at their company in 2021. That represents a huge transformation in business, labour, and skills.

Did you know that colleges and institutes offer almost 50 programs in AI, Big Data, data analytics, and machine learning in a range of stackable microcredentials, diplomas, certificates, and specialized post-graduate degrees? These programs ensures that new opportunities to upgrade or reskill are available to all learners, and that the businesses can find qualified workers to meet sector demand.

  • At Cégep de Sainte-Foy, the Technical Specialization in Artificial Intelligence teaches learners to perform technical tasks related to AI like preparing and processing data, implementing an AI method, and preparing AI solutions for production. This program was developed jointly with Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne and is taught fully online by both institutions.
  • At NorQuest College, the Machine Learning Analyst diploma program focuses on fundamental skills in AI and machine learning, like data analytics and computer programming and explores strategies to develop competitive business solutions. This flexible, industry-aligned program is offered through both in-person and hyflex delivery and includes an opportunity for work-integrated learning.
  • At Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics is a post-graduate certificate that prepares students to work in data analysis and machine learning focusing on topics like cost and benefit estimation for process change and ethical issues surrounding big data.
  • The Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Suite of courses at Yukon University is an introduction to the science behind AI systems, key definitions, processes, techniques, AI ethics, and more. This series of microcredentials is offered in partnership with Ed2go and takes only 48 hours to complete!
  • At Nova Scotia Community College, Business Intelligence and Analytics prepares students to manage, mine, and filter big data and apply analytical techniques in support of critical business decision-making. This program is offered in a blended in-person and online delivery model.
  • At BCIT, Business Information Technology Management (with an option in Artificial Intelligence Management) trains workers for positions managing AI, machine learning, and business intelligence solutions. The program focuses on things like AI business models, AI ethics, machine learning for business, and natural language processing.
  • At Assiniboine Community College, four microcredentials in AI machine learning, blockchain and the cloud help students better understand the technologies shaping the way contemporary businesses operate. Each microcredential is self-paced and takes no more than six weeks to complete.

But skills are only part of our new AI landscape. There’s also huge potential for growth through innovative business solutions. Some estimates predict that AI could add almost $16 trillion to global GDP by 2030.

SDG 9 (Industry, innovation, and infrastructure) challenges us to do more to upgrade and retrofit industries to make them sustainable and foster innovation. Colleges and institutes help business and industry partners tap into the potential of new technologies through applied research and with specialized centres of excellence.

The AI landscape is changing our understanding of what is possible, and colleges and institutes are key players in that.

Read more: While the world of technology opens access and opportunity for us all, it also comes with the requirement to remain vigilant. Protecting networks, information, systems, and infrastructure is now an essential part of keeping all Canadians and Canadian businesses safe.

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September 19, 2022

Colleges and institutes are leaders in the transition to a green economy (SDG 8 & SDG 13)

Canadians have been waiting for a new plan to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next eight years under the Net-Zero Accountability Act. The official 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan is now here. But what’s in it and what does it mean?

Bold, specific, ambitious, and achievable is how Justin Trudeau described the new plan, which outlines a sector-by-sector approach to reduce emissions to 40% below 2005 levels. That means things like greening homes and buildings, switching to electric vehicles, adopting greener technologies, and empowering communities to take climate action.

While some Canadians may be anxious about the future and about what a green shift might mean for jobs, colleges and institutes are the key to making sure this transition is successful and inclusive.

With around 15% of the current labour force (that’s more than three million jobs) anticipated to face a green-skills transformation, it’s important that workers – and future generations of workers – are equipped with the skills they need to thrive in a green economy. Colleges and institutes are already putting a solution into action.

Submission: Colleges and institutes are a vital part of Canada’s sustainable jobs agenda. We have three recommendations to better navigate the transition to a green economy.

Through reimagined, high-quality, and innovative programming, colleges and institutes train young people, mid-career workers, and support businesses as they innovate. As the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan is implemented, we need to keep these strengths top of mind.

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May 16, 2022

Representation is an essential part of treating everyone with dignity and equality (SDG 10)

Earlier this month, Canada made history by becoming the first country in the world to provide census data on transgender and non-binary people! This type of data is so important not only because it allows all Canadians to see themselves in national statistics, but also because it helps to fill a long-standing information gap on gender diversity. So, what did we learn?

Of the nearly 30.5 million people in Canada aged 15 and older, 100,815 identified as transgender or non-binary. (That amounts to about one in 300). Non-binary and transgender people are younger on average than cisgender people. (Just under 1 in 100 young adults aged 20 to 24 identified as non-binary or transgender). A majority of non-binary individuals in Canada live in an urban setting. (Just over half of non-binary people aged 15 and older reported living in one of Canada’s six largest urban centres).

This census update is a big step in representation on a national scale. At the community level, colleges and institutes are a natural fit for local support, gender-related resources and training, and positive spaces!

May 17 is also the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia & Biphobia, a worldwide celebration of sexual and gender diversities!

  • Did you know May 17 marks the anniversary of the day in 1990 when the World Health Organization took the long overdue step of declassifying ‘homosexuality’ as a mental disorder?
  • Make sure to join us for the next episode of Perspective LIVE! (read below)

Pride is about community, visibility, and celebrating being true to yourself. Representation is an essential part of treating everyone – whether someone identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, Two-Spirit, non-binary or uses other terms to describe who they are – with dignity and equality!

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April 4, 2022

Our planet, our health

At last! Canadians have been waiting for a new plan to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next eight years under the Net-Zero Accountability Act. The official 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan is now here. But what’s in it and what does it mean?

Bold, specific, ambitious, and achievable is how Justin Trudeau described the new plan, which includes $9.1 billion in new investments to cut pollution and grow the economy. That means things like greening homes and buildings, switching to electric vehicles, adopting greener technologies, and empowering communities to take climate action.

So, how can Canada’s colleges and institutes help?

  1. We’re going net-zero on campus! With the largest post-secondary footprint in the country, our collective engagement goes a long way. At more than 670 locations, we pledged to achieved net-zero emissions on campus by 2050.
  • See what we mean: many examples of net-zero and LEED-certified campus facilities, learning environments, and research centres already exist. These buildings are real examples of energy efficiency. They give students the opportunity to learn in real environments and practice using technologies on the leading edge of sustainable design.
  1. Budget 2022 is coming this week (on April 7: Stay tuned for our analysis)! We know there’s a role for colleges and institutes to drive the green transition both in Canada and abroad.
  • At home, we recommended Canada establish a Green Postsecondary Infrastructure Fund with a minimum of $400 million a year over five years dedicated to helping colleges and institutes reduce greenhouse gas emissions on campuses.
  • Abroad, we recommended Canada increase funding to support skills training that equips people in developing countries to work in the green economy and tackle climate change. (For example, programs like Education for Employment).
  • Reminder: “The Next Step Forward”is our submission to pre-budget consultations. We have six recommendations to make Canada future-proof, including this one!
  1. We also have a plan to turn campuses into living labs!

April 7 is World Health Day. 

This year’s theme is “Our planet, our heath” and recognizes the interconnectedness of good health and well-being (SDG 3) and climate action (SDG 13). At CICan, we align everything we do with the Sustainable Development Goals because they help ensure that our actions contribute to positive change for people, communities, and the planet.