Collège Nordique looks to go pan-territorial by 2028

Collège Nordique is partnering with groups in Nunavut and Yukon to expand the accredited francophone college to all three territories by 2028.

“We have very small populations, we have enormous distances within our territories and in between our territories. Everything is more expensive in the North,” said Patrick Arsenault, executive director of Collège Nordique.

“We’ve been heavily dependent on partnerships with southern institutions to help us build capacity and we’d like to be less dependent on southern institutions.”

Arsenault said his college began working with Association franco-yukonnaise and Association des francophones du Nunavut three years ago, after a feasibility study by the Yukon organization suggested a Collège Nordique campus in Whitehorse be considered.

The vision of a pan-territorial college by 2028 was announced on June 12. The groups spent the past three years meeting with governments, consultants, lawyers and accountants about what it would take to transform Collège Nordique into a pan-territorial institution with campuses in Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit.

“Pooling expertise, resources, time, ideas, perspectives will allow us to build more programming that is made in the North – by northerners for northerners – more in line with our priorities and our realities,” said Arsenault.

The groups have organized pilot projects, including a pan-territorial conference on diversity, equity and inclusion last year, followed by one on education this year.

“We have now a shared common plan and common aspirations for the future,” said Arsenault.

He said the group would like to have a presence in Whitehorse and Iqaluit by 2028, whether that be a campus or a rented classroom with staff.

Arsenault said he has met with GNWT education minister Caitlin Cleveland, who he called a “strong supporter” of the idea.

“I think she realizes the population pools are small and if we can find a way to have economies of scale, that would be a win-win for everybody,” said Arsenault.

A spokesperson for the NWT’s Department of Education, Culture and Employment said the territory is aware of Collège Nordique’s plan to expand, adding that any expansion into other jurisdictions would fall under those territories’ regulatory frameworks.

Now the idea has been announced, Arsenault said Collège Nordique is looking at changing the composition of its board at its December annual meeting to include representatives from Yukon and Nunavut.

The three organizations will also create a coordinating committee as a second layer of governance to “be specifically in charge of making sure everything we build is really inclusive of the realities that we have in our territories,” said Arsenault.

“There are definitely differences between the territories, but there’s also a lot of things that bring us together and we do have a lot in common.”