Message from the President

April 11, 2022

Dear Colleagues and Learners,

Reading the news and watching the daily disturbing images and videos coming out of Ukraine has been deeply unsettling. It is difficult to comprehend the sheer horror and destruction, and how this once peaceful country has been shattered, with so many lives forever altered or lost.

I know that many in our College Community are impacted by these events, in some cases on a personal level, and there is a strong desire to help. Knowing that we have learners directly impacted by the tragedy in Eastern Europe, we have been working right from the start of the conflict to help those most affected – those who may be struggling financially. In addition, today I am announcing a series of enhanced initiatives to offer further direct support to those learners in need, and also help with the humanitarian crisis:

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Dear Colleagues and Learners,

I want to provide an update on the College’s requirements for those who are required to attend work or academic activities in person at our Ottawa, Perth, and Pembroke campuses.

The change is based on recent lifting of most provincial restrictions, advice from our public health and government officials as it pertains to high vaccination rates, population immunization and high efficacy of vaccines, as well as feedback from our employees and learners.

Algonquin College will, contingent on current state of the pandemic and corresponding public health considerations, be implementing the following changes to our COVID-19 policies and procedures effective May 01, 2022:

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Dear Colleagues and Learners,

I am pleased to announce that The College Employer Council and OPSEU/SEFPO have reached an agreement to enter binding interest arbitration, and that the strike that was scheduled to commence at 12:01am on Friday March 18, 2022, is called off. This also includes all work-to-rule activities.

I am grateful to all those who contributed to this resolution. Our entire College community – every employee and learner – has made many sacrifices during the last two years, and we have overcome many obstacles together. The news of this agreement is another example of the commitment we all share for providing quality education for our learners.

Please see the full joint statement from The College Employer Council and OPSEU/SEFPO at this link.

Sincerely,

Claude Brulé

President and CEO

Dear Colleagues and Learners,

Given recent changes to Provincial guidelines on COVID-19 restrictions, I want to provide an update on the College’s requirements going forward.

• The College’s active screening requirements at campus entry points will remain in place until at least the end of the Winter term.
• All those required to attend our campuses in-person must wear a mask until at least the end of the Winter term.
• Any changes to our policy will be communicated directly with employees and learners.

A reminder, that with consideration for the ongoing health and safety of those required to attend our campuses – and in line with Ontario’s 24 Colleges – Algonquin College is maintaining its vaccine policy until at least the end of 2022 Winter term.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to the health, safety and wellbeing of our college community, and please stay safe.

Sincerely,

Claude Brulé
President and CEO

Dear Colleagues and Learners,

With careful consideration for the ongoing health and safety of those required to attend our campuses – and in line with Ontario’s 24 Colleges – Algonquin College will be maintaining its vaccine policy until at least the end of Winter term 2022. This includes maintaining our proof of vaccination requirement.

This decision comes after thorough discussions with local public health officials and the Chief Medical Officer of Health over the past week. As the Province lifted capacity limits in all remaining indoor public settings and discontinued vaccine passports as of March 1, it also provided businesses and other settings the choice to continue to require proof of vaccination.

Until further notice, our vaccination policy will remain unchanged – this includes providing proof of vaccination (two approved doses) or a valid exemption (as set out in our policy) and continued screening before being permitted entrance to our campuses. Masks also continue to be required until further notice. Please see this link for details on our policy and its requirements.

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Dear Colleagues and Learners,

The news and images coming from Ukraine are devastating and I want to reach out to all those in our College Community who may be affected by this unfolding tragedy.

We have learners from both Ukraine and Russia currently enrolled and registered at the College. I know that some of our learners and employees also have friends and/or family directly affected by these events. I can confirm that our International Education Centre has directly connected by email with all of our students from Ukraine and Russia, and has offered them support.

If you or someone you know needs assistance – counselling services and supports are available. Please reach out to this link to find College supports for both learners and employees and the Government of Canada information page. AC Resources and Supports | Student Support Services (algonquincollege.com)

Sincerely,

Claude Brulé

President and CEO

Algonquin College

Thursday, February 17, 2022

Dear Colleagues and Learners,

This week, the Province of Ontario announced that it is moving forward with its next step in their reopening plan to cautiously lift some public health measures a few days earlier than expected, with additional restrictions being removed effective today (February 17, 2022).

The changes include increasing social gathering limits to 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors, and increasing organized public event limits to 50 people indoors, with no limit outdoors. The Provincial announcement can be found at this link.

The Province has indicated that its decision is based on COVID-19 positivity rates falling and new admissions to hospitals and Intensive Care Units declining week over week.

The Province also announced this week – that if indicators continue to improve – it intends to take additional steps to ease public health measures effective March 1, 2022. This includes lifting capacity limits in all remaining indoor public settings. Ontario also plans to lift proof of vaccination requirements for all settings at that time. Should that be the case, this means that as of March 1 – as per Provincial direction – vaccine passports at the College will be discontinued. However, all screening requirements will remain in place for those who need to attend our campuses.

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Dear Colleagues and Learners,

Like many of you, I have been monitoring the situation in downtown Ottawa as it continues to unfold and affect the City.

Last week, the College issued a post over social media to encourage all of our learners and employees who may be adversely impacted by the situation to reach out. I want to reiterate and extend that message today – to ensure that the entire College community is aware that we understand that the circumstances downtown can be distressing for some and we are here to help.

Learners, including those on work placements, should contact their faculty/placement support officers regarding any issues they may be experiencing. I urge faculty to show understanding and compassion to learners whose ability to engage in their studies is being limited by the protests.

If any employee or learner needs support, or simply needs to connect, please see the list of resources available at this link.

Thank you and stay safe,

Claude Brulé

President and CEO

Algonquin College

Dear Colleagues and Learners,

As you know, Algonquin College is currently providing academic programming in a hybrid delivery mode until March 6, 2022, with the majority of theory courses being delivered virtually, and applied learning activities continuing in-person on campus.

Last week the Ontario Provincial government outlined the incremental steps it will take to lift public health measures between January 31 and March 14, 2022.

2022 Winter Term
The College leadership team has weighed a range of recommendations and factors to decide how the second half of the winter term will be delivered. These factors included:

• Provincial regulations
• Public health recommendations
• The impact of physical distancing on the capacity of instructional spaces
• The availability of our learners including our international learners to come to their campus  
• The results of the recent pulse survey on learner preference for the end of the term
• The need for consistency and stability for the remainder of the term

We recognize there is no one single decision that will satisfy everyone’s desired approach. The recent pulse survey conducted with our learners indicates that the vast majority of students would prefer to remain virtual or hybrid for the remainder of the winter term.

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As we prepare for AC Day 1 to kick off our 2022 Winter term, the Province of Ontario has recently announced new public health measures aimed at slowing the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant. This is in addition to the safety measures we had already put in place for the Winter term.

The announcement temporarily moves the province into Step Two of its Roadmap to Reopen with modifications and comes as Ottawa Public Health reported this week that we are facing a significant challenge with Omicron “rising exponentially” across the city.

Included in this week’s Provincial announcement is that social gathering limits have been reduced to five people indoors and 10 people outdoors, capacity at organized public events is limited to five people indoors, and employees are required to work remotely unless the nature of their work requires them to be on-site.

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