LATEST: Brampton’s University Could Come With College Partnership

Brampton | Ontario | Latest News |

Published January 25, 2017 at 4:49 am

Although much still needs to be decided when it comes to Brampton’s forthcoming university, it looks like the future academic institution could come with a college partnership.

Although much still needs to be decided when it comes to Brampton’s forthcoming university, it looks like the future academic institution could come with a college partnership.

As we learned last week, the province is moving forward on its plan to bring post-secondary institutions to both Brampton and Milton.

The province has invited interested universities to prepare proposals for the prospective sites and it recently announced that it “expects Ontario universities to demonstrate strong partnerships with colleges, as well as local communities, business, and other institutions.”

Although it’s much too early to say what college partnership Brampton’s university partner (whoever that may be) will pursue, it does seem that a relationship with Sheridan would make the most sense. The college is well-established in the city with a range of innovative programming that local students already take advantage of. If the college can partner with the incoming institution to provide students with an academic experience that’s both practical and theoretical, all the better.

While the news surrounding the university is exciting all around, there have been some hiccups. In late 2016, Brampton council fretted over how the $180 million promised by the province to fund the project will be split between it and Milton. Council also wondered where the university would take shape and how much funding they would be responsible for.

Hiccups aside, the plan appears to be moving forward and the city recently said it’s tightening its work plan as new details emerge.

In a release put out last week, the city said discussions with provincial representatives, universities and Brampton businesses revealed that all stakeholders are “looking for something beyond a traditional university campus.”

The province’s plan is to create new postsecondary facilities focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics – subjects often grouped together under the acronym STEAM. The two new sites are part of the second phase of Ontario’s expansion of post-secondary infrastructure. In May of 2015, the province announced the creation of the York University-Markham Centre campus in partnership with Seneca College.

Ideally, a university with a college connection will invigorate Brampton’s growing workforce and attract talent to the city.

It’ll be exciting to see what happens in the coming months.

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