WHEREAS a stable, educated workforce is crucial to the economic viability of rural, remote, and resource based communities and rural areas are experiencing outward migration of the workforce to other provinces or larger centres; AND WHEREAS community colleges and other training institutes struggle to provide relevant programming for students using existing funding models more suited to areas with a high-density population: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities lobby the Province of British Columbia to develop alternative or additional funding models that would assist in enhancing existing programs and allow development of new, relevant, and innovative training opportunities that can be accessed within the region.
Ministry of Advanced Education Since 200203, the provincial government has provided block funding for colleges, university-colleges, and institutes in British Columbia BC. This approach recognizes that institutions are in the best position to make decisions regarding the program needs of their students and communities. Government will create 25,000 new student spaces in communities across the province by 2010, including 1,500 new spaces in northern BC. The government recognizes the challenges of delivering post-secondary education and training in large geographic areas with a number of small communities and provides more funding per student full-time equivalent FTE on average to rural institutions than it does to urban institutions. In addition, the government is investing in capital projects at post-secondary institutions across the province. Recent capital investments in the northern regions include: a new campus facility for the College of New Caledonia CNC and the University of Northern BC UNBC in Quesnel; one for the University College of the Cariboo in Williams Lake; a trades training centre for CNC as well as a new medical facility for UNBC in Prince George; expansion of the aircraft hangar for Northern Lights College in Dawson Creek; and a new campus facility for Northwest Community College in Prince Rupert. The BC campus initiative, announced in the fall of 2002, is designed to enhance access to learning opportunities to residents in all areas of BC. To date, 3 million in program development funding has been made available to BC institutions for collaborative development of new online programming. In addition, the Ministry of Advanced Education is targeting funding for over 1,300 student spaces in online learning by 200607.