Algonquin cancelling academic upgrading courses in next phase of cuts

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Algonquin College is phasing out its academic upgrading courses as it grapples with a budget deficit of at least $60 million next year, rising to $93 million by the following year.

The upgrading courses are for students who are considering entering post-secondary either at Algonquin or another institution and helps them complete missing credits in the subjects they need to begin a course of study.

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Academic upgrading has been available at Algonquin for at least 25 years though a contract with the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. The college will not be renewing the contract, said Algonquin president Claude Brulé.

“It was not a decision taken lightly,” he said. “We looked at our financial situation, and we felt the need to realign our resources in support of our longer-term strategies.”

Current students will be allowed to complete their current course, likely over the next six months. New students will no longer be accepted. However, Algonquin is committed to supporting a smooth transition for students to the other providers of upgrading, said Brulé.

It is unclear at this point how much cancelling the contract will save.

Heather Ryall, dean of Algonquin’s faculty of arts, media and design, said the courses are offered in other places through school boards and community organizations.

“We will be working very closely with the others in the community who provide this service to ensure that we can transition students to where they can best get a service or the particular course that they require,” she said.

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Martin Lee, second vice-president of OPSEU Local 415, is skeptical.

“We’re an educational facility based on public need,” he said. “That’s what colleges are. We will be the college that will no longer be able to support basic academic needs.”

About 20 OPSEU members teach the upgrading courses. There are between 250 and 300 students at any given time in academic upgrading, said Lee. Before the pandemic, there were about 600 students taking courses at any one time, and the numbers have not rebounded.

Students who take the courses have a 10 per cent higher retention rate in their programs over other students, he contends. Although there are other resources in the community, the style, delivery and focus of these programs are very different.

One distance program only allows students to take one course at a time, for example, while students can take multiple courses at Algonquin, said Lee. Some other programs take years, or they are not focused on preparation for post-secondary learning, he said. There are also currently no agreements in place for upgrading credits to transfer between colleges.

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There are many students whose academic skills languished during pandemic lockdowns, he said. “Those students will all need to be trained before they enter the college.”

Meanwhile, Algonquin is working on its 2026-27 budget. Algonquin College’s board of governors has already approved a plan to suspend 41 programs.

Brulé estimates that there will be an additional $45 million in cuts, which will be presented to the board of governors this fall.

“We still have a gap, a significant gap, to cover,” he said. “It will straddle two different fiscal years. We’re working on the mitigations that need to be put in place in order to close the gap for 2026-27. So, more to follow.”

In February, when program cuts were announced, Algonquin announced it was offering a “targeted retirement departure initiative” for employees over the age of 50 and a “voluntary exit registry” in which employees willing to depart the college could receive modest financial incentives.

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Lee said he does not know how many employees have applied for either incentive.

It’s also unclear how many Algonquin employees will ultimately lose their jobs. Lee estimates there are about 100 faculty positions in programs that are scheduled to be terminated.

Under the collective agreement, there is an opportunity for some workers in positions that have been cut to be reassigned elsewhere in the college, said Brulé.

“We analyze each person’s skill set and try to reposition them, if that’s possible,” he said. “That’s why we make a distinction between the people and the position themselves. So the position may be declared surplus and be eliminated. But that doesn’t speak to the individual, necessarily.”

About half of the union’s members are contract workers, said Lee. “The reality is that the college is unlikely to re-house this faculty in other programs.”

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