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Dear Algonquin College Community,

I hope this message finds you well, rested, and ready for the start of a new year and the 2024 Winter term! As we come together after the holiday break, I want to extend a warm welcome to all new and returning learners as well as to our dedicated employees.

The beginning of a new academic term is like turning the page to a fresh chapter, filled with opportunities for growth, discovery and success. Your commitment and passion contribute immensely to the vibrant spirit of our community, and I am genuinely excited to see the incredible accomplishments we will achieve together.

For our learners, embrace the knowledge that awaits you, and remember, this journey is not only about what you learn in the classroom but also the personal and professional growth that accompanies it. To our employees, thank you for your unwavering commitment. Your contributions make Algonquin College a hub of inspiration and innovation.

Whether you are new or returning to the College, please recognize the need for kindness, respect and understanding for those members of our community impacted by ongoing events across the globe. These times of unrest are cause for distress to many, and it is essential we care for one another by offering support and compassion wherever it is needed.

Let’s approach this term with enthusiasm, curiosity and a spirit of collaboration. Whether you’re stepping onto campus for the first time or returning for another term, know that you are a valued member of our community, and your unique talents enrich the Algonquin College experience for everyone.

As we embark on this new chapter together, may this Winter term be filled with exciting challenges, rewarding achievements and moments of shared joy. Here’s to a successful and fulfilling journey ahead!

Warm regards,

Claude Brulé

President and CEO of Algonquin College

Dear Learners and Colleagues,

As we prepare to take a well-deserved pause for the upcoming holiday season, I am filled with appreciation and admiration for the unwavering dedication, hard work, and commitment that each of you has demonstrated throughout the past year. Your collective efforts have contributed, significantly to making Algonquin College a vibrant and inspiring community for learning and personal growth.

Many of us will be celebrating the holidays, or simply enjoying precious moments with friends and family. I also know that some among us may experience a different situation, either due to loneliness at this time of year, or due to feelings of anxiety or concern for the well-being of family and friends affected by conflicts or other tragedies around the globe.

I encourage everyone to stay connected and reach out if support is needed. Our community has consistently demonstrated a commitment to our core values – standing together in times of need. This spirit of unity is a source of profound gratitude for me, not only during this festive season, but throughout the entire year.

Please accept my heartfelt wishes, for a joyous holiday season filled with warmth, and shared moments of happiness with your loved ones. I look forward to our continued journey together in the coming year.

Warm regards,

Claude Brulé
President and CEO

Dear Colleagues and Learners,

The last few days have been challenging for many in our College community, with the freezing rain and ice leading to widespread power outages and adjustments to schedules. For updates on our operations, please see my latest message from earlier today (April 6) at this link here.

As we prepare to embark on the long weekend, I want to thank you for your patience and flexibility over the last couple of days, and your many contributions to making Algonquin College such an incredible place to learn and work.

I send warm wishes to all those celebrating Easter, Passover and Ramadan, and I sincerely hope everyone finds some time to enjoy a well-deserved break, and spend time with family and friends over the weekend.

To all our learners, I wish you great success during final assessments, and for those continuing their studies in the spring, all the best as we look ahead with anticipation to the start of the Spring term and AC Day 1 on May 8.

Sincerely,

Claude Brulé

President and CEO

January 14, 2021

Dear College Community,

Algonquin College is fortunate to be entrusted by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities with an education mandate supported by valuable public assets. It is all of us, the College’s employees, who are responsible for the stewardship of those assets.

Within the Ministry of Colleges and Universities Directives, our Board of Governors Bylaws and Directives, and our Corporate Policies, there is guidance on public sector obligations and requirements for establishing operational controls. In support of these documents and our Board Directive for Financial Management, I have initiated an expansion of the College’s Internal Control Framework.

The purpose of the College’s Internal Control Framework is to help safeguard the health and safety of our learners and employees, and ensure we maintain equitable and financially sustainable operations.

This expansion of our Internal Control Framework will focus on financial integrity by improving awareness of corporate policies and directives, increasing access to training, and conducting cyclical audits. Under the supervision of our Vice President of Finance and Administration and with guidance from our Board of Governors’ Audit and Risk Management Committee, the developing Internal Control Framework will advance the ethical and equitable management of our public assets and financial transactions.

For those of you on the Algonquin College Leadership Team who may have strong corporate knowledge of the College’s internal control requirements, I invite you to share information with those in need of guidance. Conversely, in situations and on issues where you require internal control guidance, I call upon you to seek it out – our departments of Finance and Risk Management are ready to help.

Details of the College’s developing Internal Control Framework can be found here.

As President, I am committed to ensuring that we continue delivering excellent value to the public and most importantly, our learners.

Sincerely,

Claude Brulé

President and CEO

The prepared remarks of President Claude Brulé.

September 02, 2020

Thank you Catherine.

It is a pleasure to be here today with Mayor Watson, Dr. Etches and my fellow post-secondary leaders to discuss the unprecedented fall term – and the important part we must all play in keeping each other safe.

I know a big part of the normal campus experience is people – discovering friends, mentors, and peers. COVID-19 has changed the way we live our lives; this year we must exercise caution in all our interactions. We must make the health and safety of our College community – and the greater Ottawa community – our number one priority.

That’s why Algonquin College’s plan for the Fall minimizes face-to-face instruction and promotes remote learning whenever possible. Access to our campuses will be limited to only those employees and learners who will be starting or continuing their academic journey and are required to be on site.

Around 10 per cent of our total students will be on campus on any given day – with our learning environments and hands-on curriculum adapted to minimize risk.

Algonquin learned so much from our successful summer pilot program – which saw over 600 students return to campus for learning activities during July and August.

That experience has helped us build a plan for the Fall term that considers every detail. Some aspects of that plan include:

• Students attending campus must complete mandatory online health and safety training;

• We created a “Return-to–Campus” site and “Campus Access Guide” for students, which includes policies and health and safety guidance. It answer questions students might have on everything from how to safely use the elevators to the proper etiquette for coughing and sneezing;

• The majority of our campus services, student supports and resources are available virtually;
• And in-person events on campus have been suspended until Dec. 31, 2020.

We are confident in the safety-first approach all our departments are taking – from Facilities Management and Security Services, to Student Services, and to our academic teams.

But personal choices remain the key to ensuring the safety of all. The choices we make at home, in the city and on our campuses remain critical.

We are a community, and we are all in this together.

So my message to all students and employees is: Please follow public-health guidelines: wash your hands thoroughly, don’t touch your face, make sure you practice physical distancing, and wear a mask. We must continue to be vigilant.

COVID-19 is still present in the Ottawa region, and cases among the 20-29 age group have been on the rise. We must do all we can protect ourselves and those around us.

This Fall term will be filled with new challenges. But I believe challenge also brings the opportunity for innovation and resilience.

These times of adversity show us how vital community is to our collective well-being. We need to support one another … to keep our institutions, our city – and our people – safe. Thank you. Merci. Miigwetch.

The prepared remarks of President Claude Brulé.

August 12, 2020

Hello to a wonderful group of dedicated employees,

As President of Algonquin College, it is my pleasure to highlight and celebrate your career and the milestones that you have achieved along the way.

Normally, we would host a formal reception for our long service employees where we would come together and stand shoulder to shoulder while we recognized your service to the College, to the students and to the community.

And while we cannot all be together in person this year, it is perhaps more important than ever to honour your dedication as you rise to the challenges we have faced during these unprecedented times.

Each of you truly helps form the cornerstone of this great educational institution. Every day you personify the College’s core values of Caring, Learning, Integrity and Respect.

In recent years, you have all helped the College embrace change – to champion our goals of being more learner–driven, sustainable and socially responsible, influencing our leadership position in personalized learning. This can be seen in everything from your commitment to the AC Way and our culture of continuous improvement, to how you embraced a new learning management system in Brightspace by D2L and a new payroll, finance and human resources system in Workday.

Over your collective careers, it is important to note than you have positively influenced, directly or indirectly, the lives of an immeasurable number of students.

These students have left our College, having turned their lifelong hopes and dreams into reality while making our community a better place to live, and work, and play. I am sure that each of them, and their families, would join me today in thanking you for all that you have done to contribute to their success.

A reminder to our community that at the centre of our College’s Coat of Arms is a shield bearing a sprig of cedar and three lightning bolts. White cedar, a hardy tree native to northeastern North America, represents the richness of nature, resilience and longevity. The bolts symbolize the spark of inspiration, as well as innovation and transformation.

It bears noting that the symbols on our shield are naturally exhibited in the character of our long-serving employees: resilient, inspiring, and innovative. My deepest appreciation for all you have done, and continue to do, to transform Algonquin College.

Thank you, Merci, Miigwetch.

The prepared remarks of President Claude Brulé.

August 05, 2020

It is my pleasure to be part of this exciting announcement with

two of Algonquin College’s long-time supporters and frequent

partners: the Royal Ottawa and RBC Foundation. I would also like to acknowledge the important work of the Youth Services Bureau, today’s co-beneficiary of RBC’s generosity.

At Algonquin College, the mental health of our learners and employees continues to be a top priority. During the ongoing pandemic, mental health resources have become more important than ever – as has the need for remote access to resources and services.

The funding announced today will help secure and expand the

College’s dynamic mental health partnership with The

Royal.

First announced in Fall 2019, our partnership with The Royal has enhanced our existing services, and established new tools and resources.

Over the past year, The Royal has provided high-quality training for Algonquin College clinicians, delivered an eight-part speaker series, and offered a weekly psychiatry clinic which has been enthusiastically received by students.

I would like to thank RBC Foundation for their generous support. Their funding will help further establish this relatively new partnership and extend the program into its second and third year – which is wonderful news for Algonquin College employees and students.

Algonquin College and the Royal Ottawa are planning to continue and expand our speaker series, as well as the psychiatry clinic. We will also provide clinical supervision for our Counselling team and provide additional training and IT equipment that will allow Algonquin’s employees to better serve their students both onsite and virtually.

At the end of the day, this initiative is about enhanced training and professional development for our employees – helping them recognize what they can do to help our learners. And about providing our learners with new resources, including new digital tools they can access from home.

The unprecedented times we are living in show how vital community partnerships are to our collective well-being. We need to support one another … to join forces on vital initiatives that will make our institutions, our city – and our people – healthier and stronger. And the RBC Foundation’s commitment today is a shining example of that.

Thank you. Merci. Miigwetch.

The prepared remarks of President Claude Brulé.

June 16, 2020

Welcome to this June edition of our Inclusion Infusions Live events where we hope to spark your curiosity about others, challenge your thinking about inclusion and diversity, inspire you to reflect on your own values and behaviours – and most importantly today – be catalysts for change. My name is Claude Brulé and I’m the President and CEO of Algonquin College.

I would like to begin by acknowledging I am joining this event from the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin people. Our speaker today, Hamlin Grange, is joining us from Toronto which is a sacred gathering place for many Aboriginal Peoples of Turtle Island. With this in mind, Algonquin College respectfully thanks the Algonquin people and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation for hosting us on their ancestral lands. Meegwetch.

Today’s event takes place in the context of heightened attention and importance surrounding the impacts of race and racism, in our country and in our communities. Our campus is certainly not immune from racism and hate, either. When we look around us and see that some people in our community are hurting, it is in our values here at Algonquin College to care. But simply caring and watching with shock, horror and sadness at events around us are not enough. We must improve our ability to recognize the subtleties of racism, speak up against it, and adapt our practices – both personal and institutional – to eliminate it.

We have work to do, and that work to usher positive change at Algonquin College can and should start with a series of personal, individual choices and actions from our employees, whether you’re a faculty, support staff or administrator, and our students — as Maya Angelou has said, “Nothing will work unless you do.”

As president of Algonquin College, I am duty-bound to lead this fine institution, and that means helping the organization to adapt and guide its people to take a series of tangible actions. But like you, I’m here today to learn, and so it gives me great pleasure to introduce our guest speaker, who will help us think in new ways about the challenges of our time in addressing racism, what that means, and what you can do about it.

Hamlin Grange has been recognized for his work in helping to create inclusive environments that value the contributions of all individuals. As President and co‐founder of DiversiPro, a workplace diversity and inclusion consulting company based in Toronto, Hamlin has worked for more than 20 years in a wide range of sectors including corporations, not‐for‐profit, media, law enforcement, health care and post-secondary education.

He has worked with Mohawk College, Confederation College and Nova Scotia Community College in developing equity, diversity and inclusion frameworks.

Hamlin is passionate about the power and promise of diversity, and believes a deeper understanding of how culture affects human interactions is a vital perquisite in today’s fast‐paced world.

He is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory or IDI, and a member of the faculty of the IDI Qualifying Seminar.

Before starting a career as a diversity and inclusion strategist, Hamlin had an outstanding and awarding-winning career as a print and television broadcast journalist.

Among his many awards, he is the recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for community service.

Finally, I want to invite you to send any questions you may have during the presentation to the Q&A box at the bottom of the screen. We will have time at the end of the presentation for questions and answers — let’s keep our questions focused on what we can learn from our speaker. If you have questions that you would like to direct to me about what Algonquin is doing in this space, please email them to me directly at President@algonquincollege.com.

Thank you for joining us today, Hamlin!

The prepared remarks of President Claude Brulé.

May 19, 2020

Hello everyone. My name is Claude Brulé and I am your President.

Graduates — on behalf of the Board of Governors of Algonquin College, I want to congratulate you.

This was to have been your day, and even though that day has been delayed for safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, I want to tell you that it will happen — perhaps not in the form that we expect, but we will mark this important milestone in your life. You have my word, and the word of the entire Algonquin College Executive Team.

So, this is not my convocation address to you — that will come later, when we celebrate together. But I would be remiss if I did not tell you how proud we are of your accomplishment. No matter your program of study or the length of time you have been with us, you have taken a giant step forward — and you have done so in unprecedented times.

When I became your president last summer, I could not have imagined that we would face the challenges that have arisen these past few months, and I am sure that you could not have anticipated that your final term with us would unfold quite as it has. That you have met and surpassed these challenges is a testament to your hard work, determination and, I think most importantly, your strength of character.

Your character will be tested byyour ability to push forward with your chosen career at a time when there is still great uncertainty. Don’t give up — you have our ongoing support. And don’t forget — you are now a proud member of the Algonquin College Alumni and Friends Network; there is support there too. I encourage you to stay connected with your vibrant alumni community that stretches around the world. We will always be here to help — through continuing education classes, our Corporate Training Centre and more. In fact, we will be following you closely — to celebrate your successes and offer assistance for your setbacks.

The final test of character will be your willingness to wait. There are plenty of expressions and wise sayings about the value of patience — but I will spare you these because I know that nothing I can say or quote will have deeper meaning for you than the patience you have already shown. I hope, however, that you never lose your impatience for taking the next steps in your life — you have plenty to be impatient about because, armed with your Algonquin College credential, your future is very bright. Seize the days ahead with some of that same impatience. Don’t wait for opportunity to come to you, pursue it now. Start calling your contacts and tap your virtual networks so that when things open up, you are ready to hit the ground running.

I look forward to the day when we can celebrate your accomplishment together.Until then, I wish you all the very best.