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Algonquin College celebrates historic $2 Million gift from The Joyce Family Foundation

Posted on Monday, October 28th, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Algonquin College celebrates historic $2 Million gift from
The Joyce Family Foundation

Ottawa, ON (Monday, Oct. 28, 2024) – Algonquin College is proud to announce a momentous $2 million gift from The Joyce Family Foundation, establishing a significant endowment to support students facing financial barriers. This donation, the largest single contribution to Algonquin College to date, underscores the Foundation’s commitment to higher education and its belief in the potential of every student.

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Media Advisory – Algonquin College Open House on Nov. 4

Posted on Wednesday, October 25th, 2023

OTTAWA (Oct. 25, 2023) – Algonquin College’s Ottawa Campus is hosting its Fall Open House, an event dedicated to helping learners shape their own futures on Saturday, Nov. 4.

Join us for an immersive experience, where prospective students will have the opportunity to explore a diverse range of academic and career-focused programs available across all four campuses – Ottawa, Perth, Pembroke and AC Online. Continue reading →

AC learners raise money for Operation Come Home

Posted on Wednesday, October 18th, 2023

On Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, students from Algonquin College’s Community and Justice Services program will take to Elgin Street for 24 hours as part of Operation Come Home’s 24 Hours of Homelessness event. During this time, students raise funds and awareness for Ottawa’s homeless population.

Roughly a dozen second-year Community and Justice Services students, alongside Professor Cat Baron, will brave the elements over a busy weekend in downtown Ottawa. The event, being held for the first time since 2015, will see funds raised for Operation Come Home in its efforts to provide support to at-risk and homeless youth.

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Algonquin College public relations students launch annual charitable campaign

Posted on Thursday, July 14th, 2022

(OTTAWA – JULY 14, 2022) – Monday, July 18, marks the official launch of the All Hands on Deck (AHOD) campaign — a fundraiser for The Royal Ottawa Foundation for mental health. The launch event will take place in Algonquin College’s Student Commons Building from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. The campaign is being organized and executed by 18 students from Algonquin College’s public relations program.

“Young people are struggling with their mental health and should not have to suffer in silence,” says campaign director, Sacha Foster. “We are partnering with The Royal to address what has been called the ‘invisible pandemic’ — the youth mental health crisis brought on by COVID-19.”

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), only one in five children receive appropriate mental health care in Canada. In Ontario, the reality is much the same. Mental health experts have expressed serious concern over the well-being of children and youth during COVID-19 — saying they’ve seen the number of mental health related walk-ins double in Ontario.

“This campaign is organized at no cost to the organization — 62 cents of every dollar raised will go directly to funding youth mental health care and research at The Royal,” says Foster. “For over 25 years the annual ACPR charitable campaigns have raised money and awareness for local organizations within the city of Ottawa and we are so proud to uphold that philanthropic tradition.”

The campaign will give students practical hands-on events and logistic experience while giving back to the community in which they live, learn and grow. To date, ACPR’s charitable campaigns have raised over $500,000 for local organizations.

For more information about the event visit https://acprcampaign.com/

 

The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health

The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health is a not-for-profit that raises funds to support research and care at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Center, the Brockville Mental Health Center, and the uOttawa Institute of Mental Health Research.

The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Center (The Royal)

The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Center is one of Canada’s leading mental health treatment and research centre. The Royal serves people ages 16 and older with highly specialized treatment and care. The Royal serves its patients through outpatient services, counselling, crisis intervention, and in-patient treatment at their 186-bed state-of-the-art centre. The Royal’s Youth Mental Health Program treats people aged 16 to 18 with a multi-dimensional team of professionals at The Royal ready to help when a young person is in crisis or in need of long-term care. That team includes psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, recreational therapists, and many other specialties.

For more information:

Reo Stubbs, Head of Media Relations, AHOD Campaign

stub0036@algonquinlive.com

Four Algonquin graduates named to Forty Under 40 awards

Posted on Monday, May 2nd, 2022

Four Algonquin College graduates who are rising stars in their fields are winners in the Ottawa 2022 Forty Under 40. The award recognizes 40 professionals under the age of 40 who are innovative and talented leaders with outstanding business accomplishments, professional experience and community involvement.

The judges had the challenging task of selecting the winner from hundreds of accomplished applicants.

“The individuals included in the running have achieved results that are of global quality, with a local Ottawa focus,” judge Charlotte Karam, the new director of the Executive MBA at the Telfer School of Management, told the Ottawa Business Journal. “I am inspired by their ability to exceed all expectations during a time of great uncertainty and disruption, while remaining steadfast champions and beacons of service to the local Ottawa community.

“The final 40 are a group to be celebrated, having achieved so much thus far, and I can’t wait to see what they do next!”

The 2022 awards gala will be held in-person on June 17, after two years of virtual events. It will also be broadcast.

Forty Under 40, which is celebrating its milestone 25th year in 2022, is a joint initiative between the Ottawa Business Journal and Ottawa Board of Trade.

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Northern College and Algonquin College Sign Memorandum for Agriculture Business Program

Posted on Friday, November 26th, 2021

HAILEYBURY, ON (Nov 26, 2021): Northern College is pleased to announce a new Memorandum of Understanding with Algonquin College which will see an Algonquin-developed two-year Agriculture Business program offered at Northern’s campuses.

The program, developed in 2018, comes as a response to Ontario’s Agricultural industry becoming an increasingly industrialized business venture, with farmers often being called upon to field, manage and coordinate millions of dollars in assets as they go about the business of feeding Canadians.

Working in consultation with local farmers from the Ottawa Valley, Algonquin College developed a two-year Agricultural Business program designed specifically to address the growing need for skilled labour. The two-year program combines in-class lectures on farming management fundamentals and co-op placements designed to connect students with the realities of farming.

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Message from the President (September 29)

Posted on Wednesday, September 29th, 2021

Dear Colleagues and Learners:

I would like to start off this week’s communiqué with a note of thanks for your ongoing patience this past month as we implemented the College’s new Mandatory Vaccination Policy for the start of the 2021 Fall Term. Support for the use of the Algonquin Mobile Safety App to submit vaccine status information has been incredible, with over 11,500 applications submitted by College community members. Of these submissions, 92% are fully or partially vaccinated against COVID-19.

The month of October lies ahead and features three crucial deadlines related to our policy:

  • October 12: Those choosing to be unvaccinated by personal choice will not be permitted access to the campus after this date – unless they have been approved for an exemption (details on this process can be found here).
  • October 16: For those pursuing vaccination, this is the latest date you can receive your last shot in order to meet the College’s October 30 deadline for full vaccination. (Once you receive your last dose, you must re-submit your proof of vaccination via our AC Mobile Safety App or web portal).
  • October 30: This is the date complete vaccination is required – meaning you have received your last dose and have waited the requisite 14 days to be considered fully vaccinated. If you have not received your last dose – and undergone the 14-day waiting period by this point – you will not be allowed entry to the campus.

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Crystal Martin-Lapenskie Named Alumni of Distinction Community Services Recipient

Posted on Friday, September 24th, 2021

Every year, Algonquin College celebrates the incredible achievements of its alumni through the Alumni of Distinction Awards. These awards honour the extraordinary contributions our graduates make to the community while achieving career success. Here is a closer look at the Alumni of Distinction – Community Services Award Recipient Crystal Martin-Lapenskie. To register for the Alumni of Distinction event, click here.

President and CEO, Okpik Consulting

Social Service Worker, Class of 2013

When Crystal Martin-Lapenskie was first pondering her choice of career, social work wasn’t the first option on her mind. Her early goal was police work. Her family knew and were friends with many RCMP officers and when she expressed interest in pursuing similar work, the officers were very encouraging. “They’d say, ‘You want to be a cop, you can be a cop right here in your community,’” she says.

But life intervened in the person of her guidance counsellor at Opeongo High School near Pembroke, who reminded her that in order to graduate from Grade 12 she would have to complete 40 hours of community service. It so happened that she was heading home for a time: “I wanted to explore. I wanted to see family, reconnect and see where it was I belonged.”

Born and raised in Sanirajak in Nunavut, Martin-Lapenskie divided her time between the North and the Ottawa Valley through her teenage years. On this trip to the Arctic, she used the opportunity to do her community hours in a local school. She functioned as a teacher’s assistant, working with students her own age who were – because of differences in education in the North – in much lower grades. She helped with their schoolwork and volunteered at a hockey camp. What she learned in the process was both distressing and inspiring.

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Michael Wood Named Alumni of Distinction Business Recipient

Posted on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021

Every year, Algonquin College celebrates the incredible achievements of its alumni through the Alumni of Distinction Awards. These awards honour the extraordinary contributions our graduates make to the community while achieving career success. Here is a closer look at the Alumni of Distinction – Business recipient Michael Wood. To register for the Alumni of Distinction event, click here.

Former Chief Marketing Officer/Managing Partner, Ottawa Special Events

Travel Counsellor – Class of 1997

From playing rock ’n’ roll in stadiums across North America to appearing before the federal finance committee during the pandemic, Algonquin College Professor Michael Wood has maintained a simple philosophy.

“My whole thing is that kindness matters, and everything happens for a reason. I am really just motivated by people being happy,” said Wood, one of Algonquin’s Alumni of Distinction Award winners for 2021.

After graduating from high school, the only career pursuit that appealed to Wood was becoming a rock guitarist and touring. His parents offered encouragement but wanted him to focus on school first.

“Because there was no music program at Algonquin back then, I went into the Travel and Tourism program. I thought that would be a way to get on a cruise ship and become a musician or learn how to book tours,” said Wood, who graduated in 1997.

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Algonquin Grads Compete in Ottawa International Animation Festival

Posted on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021

The Ottawa International Animation Festival, which starts today and runs until October 3, is North America’s oldest and largest animation festival, featuring thousands of entries from across the world.

This year, Algonquin College will be represented in the festival’s Canadian Student Competition with a short film by recent grads Noah Henman and Isaac Lyons. Their entry, Mammoth Gorge, is one of 23 official selections in the competition, alongside films from Sheridan College, Concordia University and Emily Carr University, among others. This is the first time in years Algonquin has had a film in the running.

Mammoth Gorge, which features Ice Age hunters seeking out a mammoth, was Henman and Lyons’ final year project. It is two minutes long and traditionally animated, meaning every cel is drawn by hand.

Since the advent of computer animation, drawing by hand is no longer the norm in the industry, but it’s a skill Henman and Lyons were grateful to learn in the three-year animation program at Algonquin. Indeed, they say the first two years of their studies were focused on fundamentals, such as drawing on paper, a skill they’d like to see more of in the industry.

Henman, who is from Colorado, and Lyons, who is from New York State, came to the program at Algonquin due to its stellar reputation. Henman heard about the program from friends he’d met online, and Lyons heard about it through Henman, who he’d met and befriended online while he was in his first year for animation at a school in New York. Lyons felt the New York program was lacking, so when Henman sent him a demo reel from Algonquin, he decided to make the switch.

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