Ryerson University Changes Name

Ryerson University in Toronto has changed its name to Toronto Metropolitan University. 

Ryerson Institute of Technology was established in 1948 in response to the need for skilled tradespeople following the Second World War. Built on the historical site of Ontario’s first teacher training college -- known as the Toronto Normal School. After 1963, “polytechnic” was added and in 2002, Ryerson Polytechnic University shortened its title to Ryerson University.

You can also read more in "Toronto university changes name amid controversy over Canadian educator's legacy," posted by CBC on April 26, 2022.

Edmonton Digital Arts College is Closing

Canada's Global News posted "Edmonton Digital Arts College shutting down permanently" on July 2, 2019.   Reporter Sarah Kraus interviewed EDAC executive director Owen Brierly and students impacted by the decision.

EDAC operated as a private post-secondary institution and had been enrolling roughly 50 students.  The institution was initially founded as Guru Digital Arts College in 2002 with a curricular focus on digital media.  Brierly acquired the school in 2008 and attempted to offer a broader array of options for students.

The article also includes a link to a 14 minute interview with Brierly on The Ryan Jesperson Show on CHED 630, "Edmonton digital arts college calls it quits."

Name Change for Red Deer College as it becomes Red Deer University

Red Deer College in Red Deer, Alberta announced this week that the province approved a change in name to Red Deer University.  

One year ago in March 2018, Premier Rachel Notley and Minister of Advanced Education, Marlin Schmidt indicated that the institution could offer its own degrees and begin the journey to become a university.

Founded as Red Deer Junior College in 1963, the institution changed its name to Red Deer College by 1970.

You can view Red Deer's timeline of institutional milestones with links to separate sketches for each decade. 

CBC also posted "Red Deer College to become Red Deer University," with reporting by Sarah Rieger.

Alberta College of Art + Design will become Alberta University of the Arts

Alberta College of Art + Design in Calgary announced that it will become Alberta University of the Arts on February 1, 2019.

The institution was founded in 1926 as Alberta College of Art.  The name changed to Alberta College of Art + Design in 1995.  

The college was initially part of what is now the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), though the two campuses officially separated in 1985 and Alberta College of Art + Design became an autonomous, free-standing, publicly funded art and design college.

You can also view a short interview on the Global News Calgary website, "Alberta art school aims to offer students more opportunities with new university status," with President Daniel Doz and Scott Cressman, Chair of the School of Communication Design, as they discuss the importance of the institution's new name and how the change will impact the students and faculty.

Eva Ferguson also reports on the name change for the Calgary Herald, "New name, new direction: ACAD becomes Alberta University of the Arts."

Brescia University College Celebrates Centennial

The London (Ontario) Free Press published an article, "Brescia University College celebrates 100 years," this week noting that Canada’s only women’s university will launch its centennial celebrations on Sunday, January 27th with an afternoon mass and other activities.

You can visit Brescia's 100th anniversary web pages for more information on planned centennial activities, a timeline, and other historical information.

The Ursuline Sisters of Chatham, Ontario founded Brescia Hall in 1919 in affiliation with the University of Western Ontario.  As enrollment and academic programs expanded, the name was changed to Brescia College in 1963 and Brescia University in 2001.

Invented Tradition at Simon Fraser University

The scotsinbritishcolumbia blog published an interesting post on November 14, 2018 by Georgia Twiss, "A Tale of Two Simon Frasers: The Invented and Contested Scottish Tradition of SFU."  Twiss argues that "...most people assume the university’s name and Scottishness honour Simon Fraser, the nineteenth-century imperial explorer and fur trade...but in truth has little to do with Simon Fraser the Explorer at all."

Simon Fraser University was founded in 1965 and serves over 30,000 students through campuses in British Columbia's largest municipalities of Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey.  Twiss comments that the "...naming of SFU was a fluke by way of an acronymic oversight. The original name, ‘Fraser University’, was chosen to reflect the region from where its student body would largely derive. However, upon the realization that the school would be colloquially referred to as “F.U,” the prefix “Simon” was added, with no direct statement as to whom it was meant to honour."

Twiss proceeds to describe steps followed by the university’s president, Patrick McTaggart-Cowan, as he created university traditions "...symbolizing a prestigious sense of historical continuity and heritage that was lacking..." in a new institution.

The post evolved from a poster presentation for Twiss' history honours seminar held in Spring 2018.

Readers with an interest in Canadian history should check out the Unwritten Histories blog maintained by Andrea Eidinger, Ph.D.  Eidinger's blog is "...dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of Canadian history as a field, discipline, and profession! Unwritten Histories is designed to be an accessible platform for Canadian historians and history enthusiasts, both in terms of resources, news, and access to a diverse community."  I found the post on Simon Fraser through her regularly distributed Canadian History Roundup that offers links to the "...latest in blog posts, news, and podcasts from the world of Canadian history."

Georgian College Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Georgian College with a main campus in Barrie, Ontario is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding in 1967.  The institution enrolls over 11,000 Canadian and another 1,500 international students on multiple campuses across the province.  You can visit the college website for more information on centennial activities, a timeline, and other information. 

• Georgian College campuses:
• Barrie
• Midland
• Muskoka
• Orangeville
• Orillia
• Owen Sound
• South Georgian Bay

St. Paul's College publishes an updated history as part of 90th Anniversary

St. Paul’s College: Facing the New Millennium (2015, 448 pages) has been published to honor the 90th anniversary of the institution.  The press release includes contact information for ordering copies of the book.

The University of Manitoba was founded in 1877 as a federation of three denominational colleges: St. Boniface (Catholic), St. John's (Anglican), and Manitoba (Presbyterian).  In 1888 Wesley College (Methodist) became affiliated and St. Paul's was affiliated on October 27th, 1931.  St. Paul's was previously founded in 1926 by the Oblate Fathers as the first English Catholic High School in Manitoba. 

An earlier history of St. Paul's written by Gerald Friesen is also still available, St. Paul's College, University of Manitoba: Memories and Histories (1999)

Fourteen Everest College Campuses Closed in Ontario

CBC New reported on February 19, 2015 that the Ontario Superintendent of Private Career Colleges closed fourteen campus of Everest College.  The Everest campuses were located in Barrie, Brampton, Hamilton (two sites), Kitchener, Mississauga, Newmarket, Ottawa (two sites), Sudbury, Toronto (three sites), and Windsor.  Everest College in Canada is owned by Corinthian Colleges, Inc.

Bethany College in Hepburn, Saskatchewan will be Closing

The Clarks Crossing Gazette reported on December 12, 2014 that Bethany College in Hepburn, Saskatchewan will be closing at the end of the current academic year.  Bethany was affiliated with the Mennonite Brethren Churches of Saskatchewan and Alberta and the Saskatchewan Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference (EMMC).  The institution was founded in 1927 and was known as Bethany Bible Institute by the 1940's.  The Herbert Bible School joined with Bethany in 1958.

Principals and presidents include:  Dietrich P. Esau (1924-34), John B. Toews (1934-37), Gerhard W. Peters (1937-42), Gerhard D. Huebert (1942-45), Jacob H. Epp (1945-64), Cornelius Braun (1964-67, 1968-76, 1977-79), Abram H. Wieler (1967-68), Elmer Andres (1976-77), Isaac Bergen (1979-86), Cliff Jantzen (1986-91), James Nikkel (1991-95), Doug Berg (1995-99), and Rick Schellenberg (1999-2009).  Howie Wall is the current president . 

Canadian University College Approves Name Change to Burman University

The Canadian University College Board of Trustees approved a new name for the institution, Burman University to take effect May 1, 2015.  The name honors Charles A. and Leona Burman who founded the institution in 1907.  Alberta's provincial government had previously approved a change to university status in July 2014.  The institution is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventists.

Lost Womyn's Space features Ewart College in Toronto, Ontario

Lost Womyn's Space offers a new post featuring Ewart College in Toronto, Ontario.  Ewart College was affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Canada and operated for almost a century, merging with Knox College of the University of Toronto in 1991.

Five Alberta Institutions Gain University Status

Elise Stolte of the Edmonton Journal reports that five Alberta institutions received permission to call themselves universities.

Institution	Affiliation	Notes
Ambrose University Calgary, Alberta, Canada	Church of the Nazarene	Founded as Calgary Bible Institute in 1921
Canadian University Lacombe, Alberta, Canada	Seventh Day Adventist	Founded in 1907
Concordia University Edmonton, Alberta, Canada	Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod	Founded in 1921
Kings University Edmonton, Alberta, Canada	Christian	Founded in 1979
St. Mary’s University Calgary, Alberta, Canada	Catholic	Founded in 1986

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Rochdale College, Toronto, ON, Canada's First Open University

The Globe and Mail published a number of photographs of Rochdale College on November 8, 2013, Canada's first open university.  The institution operated from 1968-1975.

A fascinating web-based Rochdale Museum provides links to an array of photos and other resources.

New and used copies of Rochdale: The Runaway College by David Sharpe can be purchased.

Dream Tower, a documentary by Ron Mann is available on DVD for $16.

There are also a number of videos on YouTube featuring interviews and news reports from the period.
   

Kingswood University (NB, Canada)

Randy Boswell explores reasons for the recent name change in 2011 from Bethany Bible College to Kingswood University.  The institution was founded in Woodstock, New Brunswick as Holiness Bible Institute in 1945 by the Reformed Baptist Church of Canada.  The name changed in 1947 to Bethany Bible College with relocation to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.  The institution then moved to Sussex, British Columbia in 1965.  

Kingswood was formally accredited by New Brunswick in 1983 and accreditation was first granted in 1987 by the Association for Biblical Higher Education and reaffirmed in 2009. 

Maritime Bible and Literary College & Canadians at Nashville Bible School

The Canadian Churches of Christ Historical Society offers a couple of interesting papers on their web site.  The Maritime Bible and Literary College, by Geoffrey Ellis, was presented at the annual meeting of the CCCHS in August 2009. The institution opened in West Gore, Hants County, Nova Scotia in October, 1909 and closed in the spring of 1915.

Another paper, The Canadians at Nashville Bible School, was written by Donald E. Perry and provides an in-depth look at students attending another institution associated with the Churches of Christ.  Nashville Bible School, was founded in 1891.  The name was changed to David Lipscomb College in 1917...to David Lipscomb University in 1989...and Lipscomb University in 2005.

Alberta Bible Colleges

Dave Halliday's article, Alberta Bible Colleges Struggle to Stay Afloat, in the Edmonton Journal focuses on the successes and struggles of the province's institutions. Halliday notes that enrollments are growing at Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute in Camrose and Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills. Taylor Seminary and Vanguard College are also included in the discussion.

An earlier article by Elise Stolte on July 15, 2011, Alberta Bible College Closes it's Doors, focuses on the announced closure of Gardner College [Camrose, Alberta, CA]. The institution began in 1933 to train leaders for the Church of God. The denomination was initially founded in 1880 in Indiana.

Bible College Movement in Canada

Al Hiebert, former Dean at Providence College, offers an interesting overview of the bible college movement in Canada. Hiebert notes that Providence was previously Winnipeg Bible College and may hold the record for most relocations by an institution.