Alberta invests in largest-ever targeted enrolment expansion for post-secondary students

Demetrios Nicolaides is the Minister of Advanced Education in the Government of Alberta.

Alberta is on a roll. Our economy is taking off and many analysts are predicting that Alberta will lead Canada in economic growth this year.

But this growth comes with challenges. For all our forward momentum and our talented people, we simply lack enough of them to go around. Skilled labour shortages in a number of sectors could stall or undermine our bright future. 

On the other hand, we have a huge opportunity. Alberta’s post-secondary system is world-class and for decades it has ensured young Albertans develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies they need to succeed.

As Minister of Advanced Education I speak regularly with students and their families and far too often, I have heard concerns about highly competitive admission requirements and growing waitlists in high-demand areas.

Take veterinary medicine as an example. In 2019, almost 300 applications were received for admission to the University of Calgary’s School of Veterinary Medicine; in the end only 50 students were accepted into the program. This comes at a time when our veterinary workforce is currently short approximately 850 vets and growing. This story repeats in aviation, film and television, trades, healthcare, and more.

To help address this problem, it has been an honour to lead the largest targeted enrolment expansion in Alberta history. In Budget 2022, Alberta’s government invested $171 million over three years to create 10,000 post-secondary spaces in high demand programs.

More than $80 million has been invested in Calgary post-secondary institutions to create 3,000 new spaces, including in veterinary medicine. Another$70 million will create almost 5,000 spaces in Edmonton, and more than $15 million will create 1,800 spaces in the rest of the province.

More than $27 million will create almost 2,500 new spaces in healthcare programs to help graduate more nurses, paramedics and healthcare aides. Another $10.5 million will create more than 170 spaces in animal health and veterinary medicine, and more than $48 million will create almost 2,000 spaces in tech-related programs.

Keeping pace with aging workforce

Now, with Budget 2023, Alberta will invest an additional $189 million to create nearly 6,000 more new seats. To note, $20 million will be invested to create 120 new physician seats at Alberta’s medical schools as part of their plan to increase physician seats by 58 percent over 10 years.

These historic investments will help Albertans in many ways. Firstly, it will ensure we can keep pace with an aging workforce. In 1996, Albertans aged 65 or older made up 9.8 percent of the population. Today, that proportion has risen to  nearly 14.8 percent, according to recent census data.

Alberta’s most recent labour survey points to an aging workforce. These investments are a proactive step to ensure we are ready for the demands of tomorrow.

Secondly and perhaps more importantly, it will ensure young Albertans have access to high-quality programs right here at home. For our province to succeed, we must ensure our best and brightest have educational opportunities available at their nearest college, polytechnic, or university. These investments will do just that.

As an alumnus of the University of Calgary and as a father, I want to ensure young Albertans are able to benefit from our world-class post-secondary institutions.

I want to acknowledge and thank the dedicated and hard-working staff at our incredible post-secondary institutions for rising to the challenge to create 16,000 new spaces for future students. But in some areas, the future is now. In fact, more than 2,700 of these 10,000 new spaces became available during the 2022/23 academic year.

The $171 million from Budget 2022 is part of a larger $235-million investment over three years in Advanced Education. The remaining $64 million will go to create new bursaries for low-income students, expand trades and apprenticeship programming, create more work-integrated learning opportunities, and provide greater post-secondary support to Alberta’s indigenous communities.

Young Albertans deserve to have the right skills and knowledge to succeed in tomorrow’s economy, and these historic investments will help ensure that happens.

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