Following the Government of Alberta's 2020 Budget announcement last week, several institutions have spoken to anticipated cuts to make up for the funding shortfall. University of Calgary President Ed McCauley said that the reduction in funding represents a decrease of $26.7M to the Campus Alberta Grant, and could result in more positions lost at UCalgary. The SAIT Polytechnic has also announced it will be eliminating positions due to provincial budget cuts. Both postsecondary institutions in the Lethbridge region have noted concerns about the cuts, with University of Lethbridge President Mike Mahon and Lethbridge College President Paula Burns both anticipating changes to tuitions fees and potential employee layoffs. Calgary Herald | Global News (AB)

Labour Education Applied Research North (LEARN), an initiative created by the Northern Alberta Development Council, has published its report for 2020. On behalf of LEARN, Academica conducted a literature review, a labour market and job posting analysis, and industry consultations to investigate skills and training needs in the region. The research found that the region had been disrupted by changes in technology, resulting in an increasing demand for IT skills across nearly all industries in the region, especially related to cloud computing, cybersecurity and data analytics. The report made seven recommendations that focused on creating open communication channels between industry and postsecondary institutions, exploring short-term learning opportunities, and incorporating technology into the learning process.   NADC (Report)  (AB)

Canada's Ocean Supercluster has announced that Memorial University and partners will receive approximately $7M in funding for the Ocean Startup Project. Delivered in partnership with Springboard Atlantic, Creative Destruction Lab (Atlantic), New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, PEI BioAliance, and Innovacorp, the project aims to create 30 ocean technology companies based in Atlantic Canada in the next two years. "This is an incredibly important part of building capacity, expanding our capabilities and setting ourselves up for success as we embark on what we know will become a $3-trillion global ocean opportunity by 2030," said Canada's Ocean Supercluster CEO Kendra MacDonald.  MUN  (NL, NB, PEI, NS)

The Government of Ontario has announced that Ontario's first French-language university, the Universite de l'Ontario Francais, will be located in downtown Toronto. "We're expecting to see 290,000 [Francophone] students across this province, students who are going to be able to study in a facility like this and gain access to a top quality education," said ON Minister of Colleges and Universities Ross Romano. "The goal is to ensure students receive an education that leads to a quality job that's going to meet labour market needs." Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas stated that although she supports the location of UOF in Toronto, she will "continue to push so that access to francophone university courses continues to be available in northern Ontario in a way that makes sense to us." The institution hopes to begin accepting students in 2021. CBC | The Star (subscription required)  (ON)

Colleges Ontario, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, Ontario's Universities, and the College Student Alliance have released a report on the mental wellness challenges facing Ontario's postsecondary students today. "Foundations for Promoting Mental Wellness in Campus Communities" provides updates on the organizations' 2017 action plan for addressing postsecondary student mental health. They also offer three key recommendations for a proactive approach to addressing mental wellness issues: taking a 'whole-of-community' approach to student mental health and well-being; ensuring that all students have access to timely, effective, culturally relevant, and flexible on-campus mental health care; and promoting life-long mental health and well-being for all Ontarians through harm reduction and access to mental health care. Colleges Ontario | NationTalk (ON)

An effort to increase the number of education students classified as belonging to the University of Manitoba’s diversity categories has more than doubled the number of self-declared students from these categories. 29.3% of students in the Faculty of Education self-declared as belonging to one of the diversity categories last Fall. "Our population of teachers is really not diverse enough to meet the needs of K-12 students and their communities," said Francine Morin, Faculty of Education associate dean of undergraduate studies. "We also believe that diverse people simply bring different perspectives, different traditions … and a whole range of interesting experiences into classrooms, and they can use all of that to enrich the lives of their students in schools."  CBC  (MB)

Collège Mathieu has announced that it will train the next generation of journalists with its newly opened French journalism program. The program, which was designed in partnership with la Cité collégiale, will be delivered in a hybrid format where theory courses are taught by professors in Ontario via videoconference, while practice courses are taught in collaboration with local media groups in Saskatchewan. Francopresse reports that the program is the first French journalism program of its kind west of Ontario.    Francopresse  (SK)

Centennial College has announced the construction of a new building that will embody the school's commitment to Truth and Reconciliation and sustainable design. To be created in partnership with EllisDon, DIALOG, and Smoke Architecture, the new building is described by Centennial as "the first zero-carbon, mass timber higher-education building in the country." The building design will be based on the Indigenous concept of "two-eyed seeing," or viewing the world through the lens of Indigenous knowledge and the lens of western knowledge. “We wanted to raise the bar for future post-secondary projects,” said Centennial President Craig Stephenson. “At Centennial we view sustainability, inclusivity and Indigeneity as wholly interconnected ideas and we wanted a building that demonstrates that crucial relationship.”  Centennial  (ON)

The Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium has partnered with OCAD University, Ontario Tech University, Queen's University, the University of Windsor, Centennial College, York University, and Canadian Nuclear Labs to create a research cluster dedicated to researching battery electric and fuel electric buses. Described by CUTRIC as "North America’s first-ever cluster of post-secondary institutions" dedicated to researching zero emissions buses, the research cluster hopes that their work will enable governments to make more informed decisions when it comes to procuring and deploying zero-emission buses across Canada. “Our research will answer the question of how researchers and implementation teams can accurately track the progress and impacts of ZEB [zero emissions buses] implementation,” said OCAD U Professor Jeremy Bowes.   CUTRIC  (ON)

The Government of British Columbia has announced the creation of the BC Access Grant, a program designed to reduce student loan debts for thousands of students per year. Beginning in Fall 2020, college and university students in the province will be eligible for a new grant of up to $4K for students in programs under two years long, and up to $1K a year on top of the $3K receivable through the Canada Student Grant for student in longer programs. “With tuition fees at an all-time high, student debt in BC continues to grow as students and their families struggle to afford the education they need to enter the workforce,” said Tanysha Klassen of the BC Federation of Students. “The BC Access Grant will help students access not only four-year programs, but certificate and diploma programs that are key for many aspects of the workforce.”  FPSE  | CBC  (BC)