BRIEF FROM RED RIVER COLLEGE
Red River College
Red River College is Manitoba's second largest post‐secondary institution,
and its largest centre of applied learning. Each year, RRC services over 32,000
enrolments in our full‐time,
part‐time,
apprenticeship and corporate training programs.
Our programs are designed in concert with industry, to ensure we
are addressing real demand in the labour market, and to ensure students are
trained to use the most current technology and processes available.
According to our most recent graduate surveys, 97% of our students
find employment shortly after completing their studies, with 95% of those
people remaining in Manitoba, contributing to the economic and social growth of
our province.
While RRC appreciates the Federal Government’s continued support,
it has identified several opportunities that could help fuel future growth of
both the College and the Canadian economy.
Colleges are the advanced skills educators of choice. At Red River
College, we are aligned with the needs of employers, and operating on the
leading edge of skills identification, economic trends, and market shifts.
Red River College supports business growth and sustainability by
supplying graduates with advanced skills, re‐skilling
displaced employees, offering customized education, and providing applied
research and development support. We are a key player in Manitoba to increasing
access of the disadvantaged to post‐secondary
education and supporting the credentialing of immigrants.
Step by Step Innovation and Skilled Labour Development -
Driving Canada’s Long‐term Prosperity in Manitoba
Skilled Labour Action Plan for Manitoba
Skills shortages are a reality in Canada and if current trends
aren’t addressed the shortages will become greater and puts our economy at
risk. This skills shortage coupled with a fragile economic recovery increases
the need for direct investment from the federal government into PSE. In
Manitoba, linked closely with the college participation rate is the matter of
ongoing and pending skilled labour shortages. Within the construction sector
alone, industry estimates Manitoba will require approximately 6,000 new workers
and 4,500 workers to replace retiring employees by 2016 (Construction Sector
Council of Canada figures)
In less than a generation, the percentage of Canadians who do not
participate in the labour force (largely due to increasing numbers of retirees)
will rise from 44% to 61%. HRSDC and Statistics Canada predict a labour
shortage of 1.5 million within a decade. Increasingly young people will need
post‐secondary
education to enter the labour market. Currently, 70% of employment
opportunities require post‐secondary
education. Within a generation, the figure will approach 80%. Right now, only
60% of Canadians between the ages of 25 and 64 meet this standard. Unless
something changes soon, by 2016, over a half‐million
Canadians without a post‐secondary
credential will not qualify for positions that will be available.
While all Manitoba colleges have experienced growth in recent
years, our province's participation rate in college‐based education still remains well below
the Canadian average and RRC continues to experience significant waiting lists.
According to the Commission on Tuition Fees and Accessibility to Post‐Secondary Education in
Manitoba (Levin Report), the participation rate at colleges is only 7.3%,
compared to the national average of 11.2%.
This disparity, and the resulting lack of a strong base of skilled
labour, leaves Manitoba with an untapped economic resource. This could have a
long‐term impact
on our ability to grow Canadian industry, recruit new business operations from
other jurisdictions, and foster a culture of innovation in out of province.
At Red River College, we produce the graduates with advanced skills
required by employers. We upgrade skills of current employees and the
unemployed, and provide access to post‐secondary
education to under‐represented
groups, in particular Aboriginal people, immigrants and people with
disabilities.
The Government of Canada has implemented several measures to
mitigate the problem including reformed immigration policies, essential skills
training, tax credits, apprenticeship incentive grants and a new partnership
with the Assembly of First Nations to improve K‐12
education.
The magnitude of the challenge requires a holistic - even global
-approach. This is the direction recommended by the OECD which calls for a
global skills strategy that includes increased investment in education and
skills development and a cross‐government
approach to share effective policies.
The Canada Social Transfer (CST) - Increased and Targeted Investments in Post‐Secondary Education
Investment in PSE directly benefits economic recovery, in fact the
OECD estimates that “even after subtracting the public revenue that has
financed [a tertiary education degree], an average of USD 86 000 remain [in
additional income taxes and social contributions], almost three times the
amount of public investment per student in tertiary education.”[i] To meet the demand, Red River College requires a sustainable financial
foundation. Given strong demand for college graduates, long waitlists for many
programs in high demand occupations prevent many qualified students from
pursuing their chosen career. As a result, businesses do not expand and tax
revenues are compromised. The Federal Government currently supports PSE through
the CST but also through a number of programs. More direct funding mechanisms
such as the Federal Government’s KIP program can fund the jobs and economic
recovery agenda directly. An example of a recently funded project is the Red
River College Union Bank Tower project that would not have been possible
without $9,500,000 in KIP Funding.
This project involves renovating and expanding the historic Union
Bank Tower in the exchange district of Winnipeg. The expansion provides
increased classroom capacity to alleviate overcrowding at the Princess Street
facility and new labs with video cameras and production equipment. The
expansion also includes construction of a theatre‐style
kitchen that supports training in hospitality.[ii]
The government of Canada recognized the skills shortage in 2008‐2009 by committing
additional dollars but unfortunately, there is no mechanism to demonstrate that
these funds were used for their intended purpose.
The expiry of the CST in 2014 provides an opportunity for the
separation of the PSE component into a Canada Post‐ Secondary Transfer with accountability
requirements similar to those agreed to with the provinces and territories for
the Health Accord. A separate Social Transfer must continue to invest in adult
basic education for social assistance recipients.
Recommendation:
Establish a separate Post‐Secondary
Education Transfer, with accountability requirements to the Parliament of
Canada, starting at $3.8 billion and increasing by a minimum of three percent
per year.
Increasing Productivity through Stepped Innovation
At Red River College, we work with several programs across Canada
(many in the federal system) which support research, innovation and
commercialization. The federal government has supported the productivity agenda
with many programs - especially NSERC, WD and KIP.
The productivity and innovation agenda at Red River College has
also received federal support from NRC‐IRAP
and DFAIT (Going Global). As well, our clients are able to access programs such
as NRC‐IRAP and
SRED (Scientific Research & Experimental Development) tax credits. Programs
such as those based in CIDA have also supported various social innovation projects
involving RRC.
While RRC appreciates the Federal Government’s continued and
increasing support, federal science and technology investments are
overwhelmingly directed to pure or discovery research, with modest support for
applied research and development. While investments in pure research may
contribute to the economy in the long‐term,
Canada’s single‐minded
support for exploration at the periphery of knowledge has over‐shadowed the “here and
now”. The practical side of business innovation and continuous improvement, the
very root of productivity, has been neglected. We commend the Government of
Canada for appointing an independent expert panel to provide recommendations on
how to maximize the $7 billion dollars spent annually to encourage business
R&D.
The Science, Technology and Innovation Council's second report ‐ State of the Nation
2010: Imagination to Innovation ‐ claims that Canada's main challenges are to increase private sector investment
in innovation and to improve Canada's capacity to transfer research into the
marketplace. Remarkably, the report overlooks the growing role of colleges and
institutes in applied research in partnership with local companies,
particularly SMEs which are the source of most new jobs. In 2009‐10, 3,795 companies
partnered with colleges on applied research projects. While the Government of
Canada has made initial investments in this capacity, the potential remains
largely untapped.
The Government of Canada has made important investments through the
College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program administered by NSERC, the
Federal Development and Economic Agency Southern Ontario Commercialization
Initiative, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation College‐Industry Innovation
Program.
The doubling of the CCI Program from $15 million to $30 million in
2010‐2011 is
supporting collaborative activities with SMEs and strengthening their
competitiveness through innovation. The CCI Technology Access Centres Program
will allow five centres to be established to support business innovation and
commercialization. More technology access centres across Manitoba would improve
national innovation commercialization outcomes. Several college‐related initiatives
announced in the most recent federal budget, such as industrial research chairs
and support for NRC‐IRAP
to work with the colleges to support the digital economy will also support the
incremental innovation agenda.
We have only begun to recognize the power of Red River‐SME partnerships in
applied research. Stimulating innovation in Canada’s SME sector will do more
than any other measure to improve productivity and create jobs.
Current federal research policy and funding must be re‐focused to encourage
incremental innovation. A 2011 OECD paper on workforce skills and innovation
advocates incremental innovations as the principal source of productivity
growth in economies.
Federal allocations for college applied research have started to
make a difference but represent just 1.25 percent of the $2.9 billion allotted
annually for university‐and
hospital‐based
research. The Government of Canada must make further investment in applied
research at colleges and institutes if Canada is to substantially increase the
number of SMEs raising productivity through innovation.
Recommendation:
Allocate five percent of federal investment in research and
development to applied research partnerships between colleges and small‐ and
medium‐sized enterprises.
Improving Aboriginal Education Outcomes - A Social and Economic Imperative
Enhancing access and success for Aboriginal students is a strategic
priority for Red River College. Presently, about 17% of our student population
is of Aboriginal descent. While this is an impressive number for a post‐secondary institution,
we know that more can and must be done to enhance access, retention and success
among this growing demographic. This work is critical given that the formal
education attainment rates of Aboriginal people in Manitoba do not match those
of the general population and particularly for First Nations people living on
reserve.
Over the next decade, 400,000 Aboriginal young people will reach
working age, affording an opportunity for Canada to improve the economic
success and well‐being
of this marginalized population.[iii]
The benefits will be great. The Centre for the Study of Living
Standards reports that increasing educational and employment outcomes of
Aboriginal people to non‐Aboriginal
levels would lead to the following results in 2026: income increases of $36.5
billion; government tax revenue increasing by $3.5 billion; and government
expenditures declining by $14.2 billion.[iv]
The Canada‐First
Nations Joint Action Plan by the Assembly of First Nations and Aboriginal
Affairs and Northern Development Canada, and the National Strategy on Inuit
Education 2011 are powerful documents. Given the dire situation of First
Nations schools and the low secondary school completion rates of First Nations
and Inuit youth, there is an urgent need to improve K‐12 systems and outcomes. These
investments must be balanced with investments in post‐secondary education and adult basic
education.
First Nations and Inuit students are supported through Aboriginal
Affairs and Northern Development Canada’s Post‐secondary
Student Support Program (PSSSP). The 2011 Auditor General’s Report indicates
that the PSSSP does not provide eligible students with equitable access to PSE
funding.[v] The Assembly of First
Nations estimates that, as a result of the two percent cap on the program,
13,802 eligible students did not receive financial support.[vi] Non‐Status and
Métis people, and many First Nations people living off reserve, also face
financial barriers. The Urban Aboriginal Peoples Survey conducted by the
Environics Institute found that lack of funding was the number one barrier to
participation in post‐secondary
education.[vii]
We applaud the Budget 2011 commitment to expand to northern
territorial colleges’ adult basic education programs. The need for adult basic
education cannot be underestimated. The 2006 Census data reported that 44
percent of the Aboriginal population over the age of 15 (360,000 people) did
not have a high school diploma. For First Nations people on reserve and the
Inuit, the percentages were unacceptable at 59 and 75 respectively. Adult basic
education programs are key to enabling this pool of Aboriginal learners make
the transition to PSE and employment.
The Province, federal government and RRC should continue to work
closely to address the educational needs of Aboriginal people and their
communities. Enhancing post‐secondary
education for Aboriginal people will require sustainable funding for outreach
and student supports (including affordable student housing and daycare),
increased funding for ACCESS and Bridging programs, community‐based programming, and
funding for the operation and delivery of programs via our Mobile Training
Labs.
Recommendation:
Commit to raising the educational attainment rates of First
Nations, Inuit and Métis people to national averages.