Modernize Colleges to Help Fuel Economic Recovery: A Submission to the Ministry of Colleges and Universities in Response to the Modernization Consultation Process

Ontario's 24 colleges will play a pivotal role in establishing Ontario as a global leader in higher education -- producing a workforce with the qualifications and expertise to help drive economic recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 lockdown. In its recently released white paper, The Future of Ontario's Workers, the StrategyCorp Institute of Public Policy and Economy says Ontario faces challenges today that are as great as the challenges that followed the Second World War. As the government works to restore Ontario's place as an economic powerhouse, the StrategyCorp paper says the college system must be modernized with greater autonomy and a full suite of internationally valued programs and credentials to provide the strongest possible workforce in a new age of accelerating automation. In this paper, Ontario's college presidents provide recommendations on modernizing higher education in the following eight areas: (1) Micro-credentials; (2) Three-year degrees and micro-credentials; (3) Other degree programs; (4) Digital learning; (5) International students; (6) Red tape; (7) Applied research; and (8) Financial challenges.