A new report on how colleges in Manitoba are performing shows more needs to be done to get more students into college.

The report included a review of Assiniboine Community College in Brandon.

The report on college education prepared for the Manitoba government provides advice on how to develop a coordinated strategic approach that leads to improved student outcomes and better alignment with labour market needs.

“The provincial government has a legislated requirement to review colleges every five years and this actually represents the first time a report has been done in 10 years and we are pleased with this review.” said ACC President Mark Frison.

Frison says the review highlights a couple of important things and one is more people in Manitoba need to go to college and the second is Manitoba has the lowest post secondary education participation rate in the country and the third lowest number of college seats in Canada.

“Lots of things can happen and we’ve actually increased the number of graduates by 35 per cent over the past four years. But we will need government’s help to keep that momentum going and one of the main things is investing in new programs to help attract more students.”

The report, prepared by Higher Education Strategy Associates (HESA), looked at governance, efficiency, student outcomes, programming relevance to the labour market, financial management, system coordination, partnerships and client services.


The province will work towards implementing several key recommendations in the coming months, including:

• increasing participation rates and graduation rates for all students;
• establishing a performance-based funding formula;
• developing college-specific mandate letters;
• increasing rural and regional coordination to meet local needs;
• streamlining the program approval process;
• introducing an external quality assurance mechanism; and
• focusing capital funding priorities to make strategic improvements.

The review also provides institution-specific reports and recommendations for Assiniboine Community College, Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology, Red River College, Université de Saint-Boniface and University College of the North (UCN), the five post-secondary institutions in Manitoba that offer college-level programs.

“The government has its fiscal constraints agenda but I look at this report as the first day of the next budget cycle and the government now has this report and I’m sure it will impact what their thinking about what next years priorities are” said Frison

The province will develop a comprehensive long-term action plan that reflects the broader scope of the report in partnership with post-secondary institutions, industry and communities across Manitoba.