The President of Canadore College says the school is always talking to employers to stay ahead of existing trends so it knows what programs to offer students.
George Burton was reacting to a labour report that finds some college students don’t learn the skills employers need them to have.
Burton says Canadore leads some colleges in several programs while it’s equal in others.
However the school has one shortfall that is not of its own making.
Burton says there’s a deficit where it’s gone through a decade of underfunding especially on the technology end.
“We have to close that gap quickly to ensure that we have the technology to train our students,” Burton said.
Burton says the technological deficit is “more acute in the north” and adds the northern colleges haven’t seen the same level of investments as their sister colleges in Southern Ontario.
Burton says two areas where the gap has to close is in artificial intelligence and automation.
“We know automation will continue and AI is occurring now,” he said.
Burton says colleges need more support from the private sector in addition to additional government funds.
The other thing it needs from government is more autonomy at the college level so the schools can respond faster to what employers need.
Burton says eight years ago the college suspended 13 programs because they weren’t as relevant as they once were.
Replacing them over time have been the launch of 21 programs.
“This is the kind of thing we’ll keep doing depending on market demand,” Burton said.
He notes that Canadore must be doing something right, because its enrolment is up and it consistently has a high job placement rate among its graduates who leave the school for a job in their discipline.
“We need to be in tune with the market place because if our grads aren’t getting jobs, why would they come to Canadore,” he said.
“They come here because of the quality of our programs and jobs at the end of their program.”
Burton believes, as does the President of the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce, that “we have to do a better job of educating students at the front end (high school) before they arrive at post-secondary (schools) on what their career options are going to be.”
Burton says if Canadore doesn’t stay ahead of the game and misses market trends, the students will go elsewhere because as he puts it “they vote with their feet” and will head to a school that offers what employers need.
