Tour showed ADM the variety in PCC sector

Assistant Deputy Minister of the Postsecondary Education Division of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Nancy Naylor, was treated to a whirlwind tour of some of  Ontario’s Private Career Colleges on June 28.  A diverse range of private career colleges were visited to give ADM Naylor a look into the private career college sector.

Assistant Deputy Minister Nancy Naylor (front, left) speaks with staff at Canadian Business College during her tour of the Bloor Street West campus.

The tour featured stops at a variety of private career colleges including Canadian Business College, Pre-Apprenticeship Training Institute, Liaison College, Metalworks Institute, triOS College as well as The Canadian Academy of Dental Hygiene. ADM Naylor was shown just how varied the registered Private Career College industry is in Ontario.

At Canadian Business  College, students and staff were just getting started as ADM Naylor saw the college. The 22^nd floor campus in downtown Toronto offers a variety of programs and a testing centre. The main level dental hygiene facility gave ADM Naylor a firsthand look at the unique classroom for dental hygiene students.

During the course of the tour, ADM Naylor spoke with students and staff alike to gain some perspective on higher education and PCCs. Tom Bozic spoke about his former job being moved off shore. He decided to attend Pre-Apprenticeship Training Institute in order to get a jump start on his career, and already has a job interview with one of Canada’s largest telecommunications companies.

At Liaison college, a light lunch was followed up with a tour and a brief stop to speak with one of the students. Monica Osei-Bonsu felt going back to college was a challenge being around fellow students who are much younger, but after some encouragement from her faculty, she has stayed the course and helped serve up a delicious three-course meal to ADM Naylor.

The tour made its way to Metalworks Institute, a one-of-a-kind college where the students learn the tools of the music trade. The college is next to Metalworks Studios where big names in Canadian music, such as Drake, Rush and Anne Murray, have recorded albums.

triOS Mississauga Campus welcomed ADM Naylor with a tour the newly renovated facility and learned about the college’s unique features.

ADM Naylor was very interested in the facilities she visited along the tour, stopping often to snap photos to bring back to the Ministry offices.

Here’s a behind the scenes look at the tour!

ADM Naylor (left) speaks with students at Pre-Apprenticeship Training Institute about why they chose to continue their education at one of Ontario’s many registered Private Career Colleges

At The Canadian Academy of Dental Hygiene ADM Naylor spoke with staff about their new facility and the dental hygiene industry.

triOS CEO Frank Gerencser (centre) speaks with ADM Naylor about one of the many programs triOS offers.

Chef David Bakker (left) helps one of his students “plate” the lunch for ADM Naylor at Liaison College Lakeshore Campus.

ADM Naylor (left) poses with Metalworks Institute owner Gil Moore, OACC Board member Frank Gerencser and PCC sector consultant Carol Bruni inside one of the school’s many recording studios.

The OACC Executive Committee attended the Canadian Club in Toronto on Monday to hear John Milloy, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, speak about Ontario’s post secondary education system. During the reception held just prior to his speech, the OACC Executive had an opportunity to speak briefly with Minister Milloy, Senior Policy Advisors from the Minister’s office and former Training, Colleges and Universities Ministers Mary Anne Chambers and Chris Bentley.

In his speech, Milloy outlined the results of Reaching Higher, a 5-year, $6.2-million plan introduced in 2005 to transform the province’s PSE sector. There are 100,000 more students in Ontario’s PSE system since Reaching Higher was launched.

Minister Milloy also directly highlighted the contributions of the private career college sector. Despite the fact that the event was sponsored by Colleges Ontario and the Council of Canadian Universities, Milloy spoke to the great work done by career colleges.

“There’s another group with us today that also does important work in training and education and I want to recognize the representatives from the private career college sector and acknowledge the important contribution that they make to the system,” said Milloy. “Many of you will be surprised to know this, but Ontario is home to over 400 private career colleges. These colleges offer vocational training to about 30,000 students in 70 communities across the province.”

Milloy also made mention of the role PCCs are playing in delivering the Second Career program.

“By the end of March, our public and private colleges will have welcomed 28,000 laid-off workers through our new Second Career retraining program,” he added.

Click here to read Minister Milloy’s speaking notes.