Colleges Ontario

TORONTO, Oct. 29, 2004 - Ontario's 24 colleges of applied arts and technology celebrate the success of more than a million graduates during College Week 2004, November 1 to 7.

Colleges across the province are hosting a number of events and activities to bring the community to their campuses and highlight the colleges' critical contribution to the economic and social life of the province.

"Ontario's Colleges provide a high quality, innovative, well-rounded education that produces accomplished leaders in all spheres of endeavour," says David Lindsay, President of the Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario (ACAATO). "The colleges' role in educating a highly-skilled work force is essential to the future prosperity of the province as we respond to skills shortages in critical sectors."

Colleges offer a broad array of programs including certificate, diploma, post-diploma, collaborative and applied degree programs. As part of their on-campus activities, many colleges are inviting junior high students to be a "College Kid for a Day."

"By being on a college campus and seeing what goes on, we believe that young students will have a better idea of yet another, exciting postsecondary pathway for them to pursue," Lindsay says.

Visit ACAATO's website, www.acaato.on.ca, to view a list of public events at colleges across the province during College Week 2004.

Ontario's 21 colleges of applied arts and technology and three institutes of technology and advanced learning annually serve 150,000 full-time students, close to a million part-time students and employ approximately 30,000 people in 200 communities across the province.