Northern Canada is just a few months away from having its first university, when Yukon College will be made a university on May 8.
The move was announced in late November 2019, when the Yukon legislature passed the bill after a 10-year process working on the transition.
“It’s a continued step in the territories’ evolution and development,” said Jacqueline Bedard, executive director of external and government relations at Yukon College.
“The north is coming of age in Canada.”
The school currently offers two university degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous Governance and a Bachelor of Business Administration. It plans to launch a B.A. in North Studies in 2021. It is also partnered with the University of Regina and the University of Alberta, offering three other degrees.
Michelle Legere is a student at Yukon College in the bachelor of education program in partnership with the University of Regina. As a born and raised Yukoner, she is thrilled about the new accessibility in her province for a university education.
“For most northerners, the sense of community and where you are from is especially important. It’s difficult for us to leave, and now you wouldn’t have to, plus the education is more applicable to staying in the Yukon,” said Legere.
Previously, without access to a university in the north, many have been forced to leave their homes in pursuit of higher education, or have chosen not to attend university. This phenomenon has affected Yukon First Nations, who were the primary drivers behind Yukon University.
“They have been supportive all the way along because they feel the need to develop where they live and not lose the young people to the south when they go to school. It’s a sense of relief that their kids or themselves may not have to leave the territory,” said Bedard.
Although the process of transitioning to a university officially began 10 years ago, the Yukon First Nations have been pursuing one for almost 50 years.
In 1973, Yukon’s First Nations expressed the need for post-secondary education in Canada’s North in the historic document, “Together Today For Our Children Tomorrow,” presented to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Yukon University and the 14 Yukon First Nation governments have partnered in developing programs that are embedded with Indigenous and Northern culture and content.
“It is extremely beneficial in the development of the territories when there are educational programs that would be applicable to serve the needs of Northern Canada,” said Donna Patrick, graduate supervisor of Northern Studies at Carleton University.
The school will be small when it opens its doors as an official university in May 2020, but it is hopeful that it will offer a new and northern perspective to Canada.
Featured image provided.
