The College of New Caledonia is investing in academic upgrading and university transfer courses for students at its Burns Lake campus by offering its access to business and pathway to practical nursing programs.

This programming is being offered based on consultations with and demand from the community and Aboriginal partners.

“Our government is working with public post-secondary institutions and communities such as Burns Lake to deliver programs that are aligned with in-demand occupations,” said Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad on behalf of Advanced Education Minister Andrew Wilkinson. “New short-term programming, along with distance learning, will give students the skills to succeed.”

The access to business program will prepare students for upcoming offerings of the business management certificate program. The pathway to practical nursing program will provide students with the skills to enter into a two-year practical nursing program and other in-demand health programs.

“CNC is committed to being responsive to community programming needs,” said CNC president Henry Reiser. “Our focus is on providing high-quality education and training to the thousands of students who choose the College of New Caledonia to help further their personal and professional lives.”

CNC will also vary its offerings of vocational career programs in Burns Lake, taking a one-year break from the long-running applied business technology program and using the base funding to offer a blended delivery of community and school support worker instead. The applied business technology program will remain available through online programs that CNC offers as part of a BCCampus collaboration. The college intends to bring the applied business technology program back in a year.

“Community support workers are in high demand in the North,” said acting dean John Neumann. “And this will help prepare students for these positions while offering them the chance to work together with peers throughout the college.”

The provincial government has provided $400,000 to support short-term, technical and vocationally focused programs that support in-demand occupations at four College of New Caledonia campuses including Burns Lake. Program offerings were determined in conjunction with consultations that the college held with communities and Aboriginal partners.

Government is also providing $302,000 toward the cost of the Digital Delivery Initiative at CNC, which relies on new technologies and improvements to broadband Internet connectivity. The digital technology is currently being piloted to allow Quesnel students to link into instructors located in Prince George and vice versa. The Digital Delivery Initiative will be rolled out to other campuses in the next year.

Nearly one million job openings are expected in British Columbia over the next decade, and eight out of 10 of these openings will require post-secondary education. B.C.’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint outlines a plan to re-engineer the education system by aligning education and training with in-demand jobs in British Columbia.