What's New

Premier Gary Doer today announced an investment of $10 million in the University of Winnipeg’s capital program that will make possible the construction of a new science complex at the university which will also provide a home for the recently-announced Richardson College for the Environment. The premier also committed to a matching fundraising campaign over the next three years with the University of Winnipeg to provide up to $15 million in additional support.

The province of Manitoba is helping pave the way for a $14.6-million peat moss packaging plant in Richer with a $3-million loan to Premier Horticulture Ltd., Competitiveness, Training and Trade Minister Scott Smith announced today.

Government of Manitoba News Releases
Department of Education, Citizenship and Youth News Releases

The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, announced funding of $2,498,393 for five literacy projects that support activities that make a difference in the lives of Canadians.

Enrolment in Canadian universities surpassed the one-million mark for the first time during the academic year 2004/2005, in the wake of Ontario's double cohort, rising numbers of foreign students and growing numbers of young adults.

University students received a record number of bachelor's and master's degrees in 2004, as the overall number of degrees, certificates and diplomas rose for the sixth straight year.

For the third consecutive year, ministers of education across Canada are supporting International Education Week (IEW), which will take place from November 13-17. IEW raises awareness in participating countries of the benefits of international education.

The Alberta government has released a comprehensive framework that will make post-secondary education more affordable for students. A key component of the framework is a new tuition fee policy that will limit annual tuition increases to inflation starting in fall 2007.

The Province will launch aggressive new strategies to train, attract and retain skilled workers and provide young British Columbians with the education and support they need to work and succeed in the Pacific Century, Premier Gordon Campbell announced.

Backgrounder

More than 100 new degree programs have been approved at post-secondary institutions around the province in the past three years, giving British Columbia students more education choices, Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell announced.

The McGuinty government launched Employment Ontario, its new, integrated gateway to training and employment services in Ontario, announced Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. Employment Ontario provides seamless, coordinated training, apprenticeship and labour market services, bringing together about 470 service providers in almost 900 locations funded by the Ontario government.

Employment Ontario will provide newcomers and internationally trained individuals with employment training where and when they need it, Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, and Mike Colle, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, said. Approximately 125,000 newcomers arrive in Ontario each year.

The Council of Ontario Universities has introduced an enhancement to the wide array of information already available to the public. Each of Ontario's 18 universities and the Ontario College of Art & Design have worked together to develop and compile data to create Common University Data Ontario (CUDO). CUDO is an online tool designed to allow users to access and to compare data that have been gathered on a consistent basis.

This report outlines the major sources of comparable datam which are currently available regarding Canadian universities and itemizes their strengths and weaknesses. It also examines the case for creating a common, national data set for universities that would benefit institutions and external stakeholders (especially parents and students), and points out some possible elements of a common data set.

In this issue:

• A wake-up call on science literacy: Canada's future depends on it
• Connecting the dots on lifelong learning: Canada's new Composite Learning Index
  

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Dina Habib Powell leads the first ever high-profile delegation of U.S. college and university presidents to Japan, Korea and China during International Education Week November 10-18, 2006.

Seventy percent of all job seekers reported using newspapers and online ads to look for employment, The Conference Board reported. Online and print ads were ranked well above other job search methods such as networking with friends and colleagues and other activities including using employment agencies.

In the early 1990s, Oberlin College and Stanford University floated the idea that the standard time for an undergraduate degree might be better at three years instead of four. The idea went nowhere in the United States, but 45 European nations have pledged to make three years the standard time for their undergraduate degrees by 2010.

This is the fourth annual report on the state of online learning in U.S. higher education. This year’s study, like those for the previous three years, is aimed at answering some of the fundamental questions about the nature and extent of online education from over 2,200 colleges and universities.

News Release

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations released a discussion paper which outlines a new approach to Indigenous employment servicing in urban and major regional centres. Changes would increase the focus on placement directly into jobs taking advantage of the strong employment opportunities provided in these areas.

A public consultation has opened to get New Zealanders’ feedback on how they envisage workplace flexibility working for them – for example job sharing, varying starting and finishing times, and working from home.

Norway, Poland and Switzerland should do more to reduce the number of people claiming sickness benefits and help more disabled people to get jobs, according to a new OECD report. Sickness, Disability and Work: Breaking the Barriers analyses the sickness and disability policies in Norway, Poland and Switzerland and proposes steps the governments should take to cut the number of people claiming these benefits and help them back into the labour market.