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Association of Canadian Community Colleges(ACCC)

Colleges Serving Rural and

Remote Communities

Partners of Choice

April 16, 2003

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Presentation Outline

• Who we are• Definition of Rural• Rural contribution to Canada’s 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

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Who we are

• ACCC is the national and international voice of Canada’s 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.

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Who we are (Cont’d)

• 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 Canada’s landmass, colleges have a remarkable reach and access to over 900 communities across the country.

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Our Colleges

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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”

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Some facts about “Rural” contribution to Canada’s prosperity

• The resource sector accounts for 25% of the GDP, and 40% of Canadian export

• The resource-based sector’s 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%

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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

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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

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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 Canada’s 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

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Strengths and Assets of Colleges, Strengths and Assets of Colleges, Institutes and CInstitutes and Cégepségeps

• 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

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ACCC Advocacy Issues and Task GroupACCC 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

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National Task Group on Colleges National Task Group on Colleges Serving Rural and Remote CommunitiesServing 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

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Task Group MembersTask 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

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Critical Issues of Critical Issues of Colleges, Institutes Colleges, Institutes and Cand Cégepségeps

• 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 don’t 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

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National Awareness Strategy and Engagement National Awareness Strategy and Engagement Tools for Colleges Serving Rural and Remote Tools for Colleges Serving Rural and Remote CommunitiesCommunities

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 Speech’s commitment to promoting innovation,

growth and development in rural, northern and remote communities, and ensures that the college are part of the government’s 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

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National Advocacy StrategyNational Advocacy Strategy

Audience /Target GroupAudience /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 college’s 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

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National Advocacy Strategy:National Advocacy Strategy:Engagement Tool KitEngagement 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

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Task Group AccomplishmentsTask 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

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Future Plans Proposed by Task GroupFuture 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

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Future Plans (cont’d)Future Plans (cont’d)

• Develop a ‘rural lens’ as a core element of ACCC’s 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

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