Despite being named the College of Northern Canada, the Yellowknife-based school had its accreditation rejected partly due to not demonstrating an understanding of northern Canada.
Earlier this year, the school applied to offer diplomas in global toursim management and global logistics, which the territory denied. The school has also previously claimed ties to Indigenous leaders in the N.W.T. that those leaders said didn’t exist.
CBC News filed an access to information request for the rejection letters sent by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE).
Those documents show ECE reached out to industry and academic experts as part of the accreditation review. Those experts reviewed the college’s applications and found the college lacked any Indigenous or northern educators and did not have its programming tailored to northern opportunities.
There were many other concerns with the application highlighted in the rejection letters, which were issued on April 30.
“It was noted that there is a lot of cutting and pasting from British Columbia documents with no editing for N.W.T. specific processes or content,” the rejection letter stated.
“There is no evidence of faculty having experience with or knowledge of the N.W.T. communities. Nor is it clear whether the faculty will live in the North or teach online. This raises further questions about the cultural adaptability and flexibility of faculty. It also raises questions about the program content and its relevance to Northern students.”
The department previously said accreditation ensures “post-secondary institutions are properly governed and that programs, courses and the institutions themselves meet rigorous quality assurance processes.”
It states the program is ‘uniquely tailored to meet the needs of northern Canada.’ It is not clear anywhere in the material how this will be achieved – N.W.T. Department of Education, Culture and Employment
Lack of local knowledge, a lot of international students
There were several similar concerns for both programs, including the lack of northern educators.
“Northern content is the theme of the program but there are no Indigenous instructors and no Indigenous knowledge incorporated into the program.”
A photo of a fibre optic line. One of the reasons the College of Northern Canada had its accreditation rejected was that it planned to offer online education which could be a barrier to people in communities with poor connectivity. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)
There were also critiques on the college’s plan to offer online learning, which was highlighted as a potential barrier to people from remote N.W.T. communities who may not have good connectivity or computer literacy.
There were also concerns raised on the number of international students the college hoped to admit.
“The application identifies 50 [per cent] international students by the fourth year, again making the sustainability questionable considering current events in Canada. [The college] was advised several times that the N.W.T. has a 30 [per cent] cap on international students,” the letter reads.
According to the letter, it was unclear who the college was meant to benefit, as it advertised itself as a northern-focused school but then offered two programs with a global focus.
“It states the program is ‘uniquely tailored to meet the needs of northern Canada.’ It is not clear anywhere in the material how this will be achieved.”
There were also concerns specific to each program.
“The reviewer is unsure how this program connects to the N.W.T. labour market demand as the reviewer does not see any parts of the program considered necessary for work in the North,” the letter denying the global logistics program reads.
The college claimed that it would set students up with co-op placements, but the letter points out that there is no mention of who these placements would be with.
The application for global logistics also didn’t include graduation requirements for students.
Some of the issues highlighted in the global tourism rejection letter included a lack of sufficient instruction hours and outdated material to study, including one textbook that was published pre-COVID.
“Textbooks identified in the proposal are generic and many are outdated and inappropriate for the courses they are assigned,” reads the letter.
A sign for the College of Northern Canada at its campus in downtown Yellowknife. The campus is in the EPR accounting office. (Luke Carroll/CBC)
The positives
Although the majority of the content in the rejection letters were critiques, there were a few bright spots for the college.
“The foundational understanding of the course is concrete and the graduates of the course who meet all the necessary criteria will find themselves standing in line with industry standards and peers alike,” reads one comment on the global logistics program letter.
Another comment was that “the program maintains its distinctiveness, ensuring a robust foundational understanding for the graduates.”
“Those who [fulfil] the requisite criteria emerge well-aligned with industry standards, poised to excel alongside their peers.”
Despite having its accreditation denied, the college is still operating.
CBC News reached out to the college president and vice-president to talk about the accreditation rejection letters but didn’t receive a response by deadline.