Association of Canadian Community CollegesACCC

1
Association of Canadian Community Colleges(ACCC)

• Colleges Serving Rural and
• Remote Communities
• Partners of Choice
• April 16, 2003

2
Presentation Outline

• Who we are
• Definition of Rural
• Rural contribution to Canadas prosperity
• Challenges and Opportunities in Rural Canada
• Key Public Policy Objectives
• Colleges contribution to Rural Canada
• Strengths and Assets of Colleges, Institutes and
  Cégeps
• ACCC Advocacy Issues and Task Group
• National Task Group (SRRC)
• National Awareness Strategy and Engagement Tools
  (SRRC)
• Task Group Accomplishments
• Future Plans

3
Who we are

• ACCC is the national and international voice of
  Canadas 150 public colleges, institutes of
  technology, cégeps, university colleges.
• Their primary mandate is to respond to labour
  market and skills development.
• They are leading providers of human resource
  development of the workplace, and other
  technical, professional, vocational and academic
  programs.

4
Who we are (Contd)

• ACCC members represent a student population of
  2.5 million full- and part-time learners and
  employ more than 60,000 staff/faculty.
• Colleges are the primary community vehicle for
  adult education and employee upgrading.
• Collectively serving over 90 percent of Canadas
  landmass, colleges have a remarkable reach and
  access to over 900 communities across the country.

5
Our Colleges
6
Definition of Rural

• Rural and small town refers to individuals in
  towns or municipalities outside the commuting
  zone of larger urban centers (with 10,000 or more
  population). These individuals may be
  disaggregated into zones according to the degree
  of influence of a larger urban center called
  census metropolitan area and census agglomeration
  influenced zones (MIZ).
• Valerie du Plessis, Roland Beshiri and Ray D.
  Bollman, Statistic Canada and Heather Clemenson,
  Rural Secretariat, Agriculture and Agri-Food
  Canada

7
Some facts about Rural contribution to Canadas
prosperity

• The resource sector accounts for 25 of the GDP,
  and 40 of Canadian export
• The resource-based sectors productivity is 33
  higher than the Canadian average and 60 of SME
  start-ups are in rural communities
• 95 of our natural and environmental resources
  are located in rural Canada
• Income gap between many rural and urban areas
  widened during the 1990s
• There are 40 fewer household and property crimes
  and 30 fewer crimes against persons in rural
  Canada
• While 31 of Canadians live in rural communities,
  their share of total employment is 26 and their
  contribution to the GDP is 24

8
New challenges and opportunities throughout Rural
Canada

• Rural communities, whether located in northern
  or remote areas or near major cities, face issues
  that are of particular concern to them, such as
• Rural Canada is still largely based on the
  resource sector
• Innovation is an imperative which has brought
  more prosperity to Canada, but less employment to
  rural Canada
• The resultant out-migration and slow economic
  growth have left a shortage of skills needed for
  transition to the knowledge-based economy
• Rural communities find themselves unable to
  attract skilled workers, lacking infrastructure
  necessary for the knowledge-based economy, and
  eroding services

9
Key Public Policy Objectives

• To meet these challenges and raise the quality
  of life in rural Canada, government
  decision-makers must recognize and engage
  colleges and institutes as partners of choice in
  addressing the following key public policy
  objectives
• Productive and skilled resource industries
• Healthy and literate communities
• Enhanced participation of aboriginal communities
  in education and economic activity
• Sound environmental stewardship
• Enhanced regional economic and community
  development

10
How Do Colleges Contribute?

• Colleges have the coverage, capacity and mandate
  to work strategically with governments to ensure
  that Canada has a healthy, vibrant and
  progressive rural economy.
• They encompass virtually all of Canadas
  Aboriginal/First Nations communities.
• They work with agricultural and resource-based
  industries, high-technology centers, applied
  research and product development as well as
  innovative small-medium-sized business
  incubation.
• Colleges have integral links to their communities
  and are partners of choice in community economic
  development

11
Strengths and Assets of Colleges, Institutes and
Cégeps

• Vehicles for community development
• Can address local, regional and national issues
  quickly and effectively
• Respond to community needs and issues
• Agents of local development for all four levels
  of government
• Agencies of life-long learning
• Provide and create local leadership and capacity
  for community development
• Easy access for adult learners
• Learning styles match needs of adult learners
• Multi-campus and close to home for learning
  opportunities
• Successful partnerships with industry/SMEs

12
ACCC Advocacy Issues and Task Group

• ACCC members identify issues of national
  importance
• Task Group usually established to work with ACCC
  staff to
• - implement activities and initiatives
• - identify appropriate linkages with government
  and public sector
• - establish partnerships and sustainable
  activities

13
National Task Group on Colleges Serving Rural and
Remote Communities

• Goal
• To increase the profile of rural and remote
  colleges and to demonstrate how rural community
  colleges are pivotal in the social and economic
  development of rural communities.
• Purpose of the Task Group
• To put forward recommendations to the ACCC
  Secretariat on how it can better serve their
  rural and remote colleges and advocate on their
  behalf

14
Task Group Members

• Brent Mills - Chair of the Task Group and
  President, Assiniboine Community College,
  Manitoba
• Richard Doiron - Director, CCNB-Edmunston, New
  Brunswick
• Suzanne Drouin - Executive Vice President,
  University College of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
• Lou Dryden - President, North Island College,
  British Columbia
• Michael Hill - President, Northern College,
  Ontario
• Fay Myers - CEO, Parkland Regional College,
  Saskatchewan
• Bruce Rigby - Executive Director, Nunavut Arctic
  College, Nunavut
• Tom Thompson - President, Olds College, Alberta
• Louise Trudel - Director General, Collège
  Shawinigan, Québec
• Terry Weninger - President, College of New
  Caledonia, British Columbia
• Art Whetstone - President, Keyano College,
  Alberta
• Lynden Johnson - Special Advisor, ACCC
  Secretariat
• Brian Bender - Senior Program Officer, ACCC
  Secretariat

15
Critical Issues of Colleges, Institutes and Cégeps

• Rural and remote colleges are not visible on the
  radar screen (at all levels of government)
• Need to define role within community development
• Need to share our success stories and lessons
  learned
• Distance from power centers
• Distance from the policy makers to the
  implementers
• Policy makers dont understand the issues of
  rural and remote communities and the role of
  community colleges
• Need common dialogue amongst institutions
• Training is seen as a cost not as an investment
• Managing client expectation
• Geographic distance scale affects all aspects
• Need to promote/advocate with all levels of
  government - Federal, Provincial/Territorial,
  Municipal and First Nations

16
National Awareness Strategy and Engagement Tools
for Colleges Serving Rural and Remote Communities

• Develop a Strategy that
• Recognizes the uniqueness of rural and remote
  communities
• Is based on a well-designed advocacy strategy
• Includes identification of how the strategy will
  be implemented
• Supports the Throne Speechs commitment to
  promoting innovation, growth and development in
  rural, northern and remote communities, and
  ensures that the college are part of the
  governments policies and programs
• Identifies what rural and remote colleges are all
  about, their capacity and how they can be a
  partner in community socio-economic development
• Will encourage rural and remote colleges to
  advocate and position themselves with governments
  and alternative funding agents (e.g WED, DFO, EC,
  DIAND etc.) using generic tools developed by the
  Task Group
• It will also promote the ACCC Rural and Remote
  Colleges Initiative to the wider college system,
  other public sector groups and the general public

17
National Advocacy Strategy

• Audience /Target Group
• Primarily colleges themselves, as they are the
  vehicles that will take the mandate of the Task
  Group and the Serving Rural and Remote
  Communities Initiative to the community (local,
  municipal and provincial government bodies)
• Second audience consists of government officials
  and decision-makers at both the federal and
  provincial levels
• Objectives
• Make all levels of government more aware of the
  colleges current and future contribution to
  community development
• Raise awareness amongst colleges of their
  important role in engaging and influencing
  government agendas
• Raise awareness among the four levels of
  government with respect to the challenges and
  capacity of rural and remote colleges in
  addressing the five public policy objectives

18
National Advocacy StrategyEngagement Tool Kit

• Brochure
• common to all levels of governments
• emphasizes rural focus and content
• highlights key words that explain the role of
  rural and remote colleges in meeting the five
  public policy objectives
• emphasizes serving resource industries of Canada
  (mining, forestry, etc.)
• reflects importance of rural Canada to all
  Canadians
• Web Site
• Strategy and Engagement Tools available in
  web-based format with launch at the ACCC annual
  conference
• Engagement Tools
• Distinguishing characteristics of rural colleges
• Key college capacities
• Checklist for meeting preparation
• Overview of federal government structure and
  functions
• Key contacts
• Federal rural policy priorities

19
Task Group Accomplishments

• Meetings with senior government officials
• Meetings with Ministers and Rural Caucus Chair
• Participation at 2nd National Rural Conference
• Participation at sessions with the Rural Regional
  Teams
• (Québec, Ontario, etc.)
• Presentation on Approaches by Colleges to
  Community Development Objectives - May 2002 ACCC
  Conference
• Rural and Remote Colleges Symposium (May 25,
  2002)
• Inventory of Exemplary Practices on-line (63)
• ACCC College Canada publication for Colleges and
  Rural and Remote Communities (Challenge and
  Opportunity)
• Awareness Strategy and Engagement Tools
• The work of the Task Group has raised the profile
  of rural and remote communities, leading to
  focussed interest on Aboriginal and Northern
  issues

20
Future Plans Proposed by Task Group

• Prepare inventory of federal policy issues most
  relevant nationally or regionally to rural and
  remote communities and colleges/institutes
• Host Second Rural Symposium, May 24, 2003
• Host Rural and Remote Francophone Symposium
• Adopt National Awareness Strategy and Engagement
  Tools
• Facilitate provincial and territorial awareness
  and engagement
• Develop provincial/territorial-based advocacy
  strategies
• National Advisory or Action Committee comprised
  of provincial and territorial members who are
  leading province/territory-wide rural advocacy
  strategies
• Shift our customer focus from just the federal
  government to the public, industry, non-profit
  and all levels of government

21
Future Plans (contd)

• Develop a rural lens as a core element of
  ACCCs ongoing advocacy agenda, to be applied to
  all government policies and ACCC interventions
• Outline a multi-year strategy to continue rural
  and remote focus, including another issue of
  College Canada
• Influence all four levels of government to
  achieve increased awareness of the unique needs
  of rural and remote communities, across a
  multiplicity of sectors and government funders
• Obtain new revenue sources to enable colleges to
  deliver custom programming to meet local industry
  needs and community development opportunities
• Provide advocacy and awareness tools to enable
  small colleges to advance their own advocacy
  agenda and role in local community development

22
www.accc.ca
ISO 9002 CERTIFIED