Message from the President

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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Dear Colleagues and Learners,

Our College leadership team is closely monitoring all recent government-issued responses to rising COVID-19 case counts, with particular emphasis on the risks associated with the highly transmissible Omicron variant of concern.

As we have done throughout this pandemic, we need to adapt quickly to these changing circumstances and ensure the safety of all employees and learners, particularly those who are required to be on campus. As a result, I want to convey some important messages and decisions.

The majority of our academic programming for the Winter term will begin as scheduled on January 10, but in a primarily virtual (remote) delivery mode. Every class where remote delivery is possible will begin as a virtual class. For those learning activities that cannot be delivered virtually, on-campus delivery will continue, but with physical distancing requirements in place for the entire campus. We will continually review the need for virtual delivery, but it is expected to continue in this manner until March 7, i.e. until the end of our Winter mid-term break.

Similar to the direction that was provided in the Fall, only those learners and employees required to be on campus should be attending campus in-person. If you are not required to be on campus, we strongly encourage you to work remotely from home. The more we can limit unnecessary in-person activity on our campuses, the more we can reduce the risk of transmission. Managers can help answer employees’ questions should further clarification be required, and students can speak with their professors – please do not hesitate to reach out.

We will also be pausing all in-person, non-academic events and social gatherings on our campuses until it is safe to gather again. I would like to strongly encourage you to consider extending a pause to college-related off-campus activities as well. I can confirm that our upcoming AC Day 1 activities will be conducted virtually, however there will be individuals in-person, operating our Here-2-Help booths.

These are difficult times, and as such, can impact us all differently. If you are looking for support, there are numerous resources available to employees and learners. Learners can access program, financial and personal supports via this link, and employees can find a full range of resources here.

We are continuing to monitor all developments and public health directives, and review our policies accordingly. Any further changes to operations will be communicated immediately to all employees and learners.

Over the past year and a half, you have been called upon to make more sacrifices, to exercise more patience and adapt to new and challenging sets of circumstances. I know it is not easy; thank you for your ongoing commitment and resiliency.

Stay well everyone,

Sincerely,

Claude Brulé

President and CEO

Algonquin College