A university for Timmins?

• Author: Cirtwill, Charles
• Position: Think Tank

A stand-alone university for Timmins? Maybe not. This would be a fair summary of a report published by Northern Policy Institute into one suggestion for expanding post-secondary access in Northern Ontario.

The author, Dr. Ken Coates, concludes that while there may not be a strong case for a new post-secondary institution in Ontario's northeast, other options are worthy of consideration. These include developing a satellite campus of an existing university, developing an expanded, coordinated Northern College-university partnership and considering alternative approaches to traditional university programming such as an Indigenous institution for Ontario or a work-focused institution for the province (polytechnic anyone?).

Full disclosure, this paper was partially supported by a contribution from the Timmins Economic Development Corporation (TEDC). The TEDC approached NPI with a simple question: would it be possible for Timmins to support an English-language university, adding to the three existing universities in the region?

Unlike a consultant, NPI could not guarantee the answer would be "yes." Timmins EDC knew going in that the answer may be "no," yet they understood that even an evidence-based "no" would be of value in making decisions about allocating scarce community resources. NPI applauds the TEDC for having the courage to take us up on our standing offer to explore important Northern issues in partnership with local institutions, provided the author is free to go where the evidence leads.

Make no mistake, however, access to post-secondary is an issue NPI hears about regularly, particularly when it comes to the question of access to university courses and the breadth of choice available here in Northern Ontario versus elsewhere. In 'A University for Timmins? Possibilities and Realities,' Coates outlines how many other countries deliver much higher levels of access and choice in their Northern areas.

That more programs and closer proximity is an issue for local communities is not a surprise. The literature on post-secondary education regularly demonstrates that PROXIMITY to a post-secondary education is a huge factor in whether people attend postsecondary. Similarly, we routinely see that students who otherwise might attend university choose college instead where no university...