Account Login
Don't have an account? Create One
At University of New Brunswick’s College of Extended Learning, high quality education and teaching excellence is being exported far beyond New Brunswick’s borders.
The College of Extended Learning is one of the most robust and comprehensive university continuing education units in Canada. Its goal is to provide higher education opportunities, including professional and personal development programming, for a non-traditional student base. That includes adults, part-time and distance learners, and professionals.
“Tens of thousands of people from across the country have graduated from our programs,” notes Kelly O’Brien, the College’s director of business development, pointing to British Columbia and Alberta as key markets. “Our major growth areas are external to this region and extend across the country and all over the world.”
The College of Extended Learning team has grown to 70 employees and specializes in developing online courses, with systems and processes to support an online student base. Most recently, the College is developing programs to help combat mental health issues in the workplace. O’Brien notes that mental health issues are costing Canadian businesses a reported $33 billion per year in lost productivity. “The issues are significant, and people are starting to realize the need for a proactive approach,” he says.
That’s why the College of Extended Learning is collaborating with people across the country, including mental health leaders, multinational corporations, and national associations to assist in the development and delivery of programs to help people cope with stress in their lives and at work. “The College of Extended Learning has an opportunity to be a significant player in this space,” O’Brien says.
In turn, the College will continue to grow its position as a Canadian education leader.
“The knowledge industry is a key economic driver for this region,” O’Brien adds. “Knowledge is an exportable and transferable product that crosses every border.”
New Brunswick communities are also passionately leading the charge in expanding the province’s knowledge industry. There’s no better example than in Fredericton, the capital, with the impressive work being done by Ignite Fredericton, an economic development agency and steward of the community’s Vision 2020 Economic Development Strategy.
Ignite Fredericton’s mission is to fuel entrepreneurs with the resources they need to create economic growth. The ultimate goal is to make Fredericton the startup capital of Canada. Among the agency’s key roles are: attracting investment and talent, developing population growth strategies, and readying companies for export and growth.
The agency works in tandem with two other key organizations: Planet Hatch, a business accelerator that provides startup services, coaching and mentoring, and collaboration space; and Knowledge Park, which is New Brunswick’s only technology and research park and a clustering environment for knowledge-based companies.
The result is a hub of entrepreneurship in the capital region. And their combined efforts have already delivered impressive results: since January 2015, more than 70 startups have formed, 410 direct jobs have been created (along with 156 indirect jobs), and four major investments have been attracted to the city.
“The knowledge industry is a key driver of our economy,” explains Laurie Guthrie, an economic development and marketing specialist with Ignite Fredericton.
Guthrie notes that the seeds for Fredericton’s knowledge industry growth were planted in 1992, with the City of Fredericton’s first economic development strategy, Vision 2000. It focused on diversifying the community from a government and university town to a knowledge-based economy. The goal was to become a “smart city”. In the years since, Fredericton has attained that global brand equity through numerous achievements like being named twice as “One of the World’s Top 7 Intelligent Communities” by the Intelligent Community Forum of New York (in 2008 and 2009). The city’s most notable initiative was building its own fibre optic network to close the digital divide, and to ensure residents and businesses had the digital infrastructure and connectivity needed to grow. Fredericton also built Canada’s first, free wireless network: Fred-eZone. Fredericton has also been the site of two of Canada’s largest tech exits, with Salesforce.com acquiring Radian6 and IBM acquiring Q1 Labs for a combined $1 billion.
Comment policy
Comments are moderated to ensure thoughtful and respectful conversations. First and last names will appear with each submission; anonymous comments and pseudonyms will not be permitted.
By submitting a comment, you accept that Atlantic Business Magazine has the right to reproduce and publish that comment in whole or in part, in any manner it chooses. Publication of a comment does not constitute endorsement of that comment. We reserve the right to close comments at any time.
Cancel