Post-secondary institutions across the north each have their own strengths and by working together they can give more students in the region the opportunity to pursue their desired career.
The presidents of the University of Northern British Columbia, the College of New Caledonia, Northwest Community College and Northern Lights College signed a five-year agreement Thursday to continue a partnership thath started in 2003.
"As companies continue to come to the region and work, this ecosystem of support is critically important," UNBC president George Iwama said at a signing ceremony held at the university.
There are many ways the partnerships can work, for instance Northern Lights can share its expertise in training people for the oil and gas sector with the other institutions and the Northwest Community College can provide insight in training for mining and CNC can assist in healthcare courses.
"We're able to capitalize on the the special expertise [of each institution]," CNC president John Bowman said, noting there's many ways to achieve those goals. "Sharing curriculums, sharing faculty and the relationships that we have with industry through the partnerships are very important as well."
For example, CNC has partnered with Northwest Community College to help prepare workers for the Mount Milligan mining project north of Fort St. James.
In addition to providing support for program delivery, Iwama said more work can still be done on dual entry and admission to colleges and UNBC, while also eliminating duplication of programming at regional institutions.
As the region's economy continues to grow and diversify, Iwama said having all four post-secondary instutions working together will help meet the employment needs of the future.
"This is a very important time in our region for industrial growth," Iwama said. "The training of our students, both in direct technical and skills development as well as university credential training, is critically important now."
