Colleges Ontario

TORONTO, Feb. 20, 2005 - The province's 24 colleges of applied arts and technology have today launched a dynamic advertising and interactive-media campaign to bolster the Rae report message that Ontario must invest in its college system.

"The message to the McGuinty government continues to be clear," said Dr. Rick Miner, chair of the Committee of Presidents of the Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario (ACAATO). "To compete internationally, Ontario must produce a highly trained and skilled workforce. That means Ontario must invest in postsecondary education and in producing greater numbers of skilled college graduates."

The campaign includes bus shelter advertisements, newspaper ads and an online petition, www.fundcollegesnow.ca. It highlights the crucial role that college graduates play in today's high-tech economy and the urgent need to invest in college education.

In his Feb. 7 report on postsecondary education, former premier Bob Rae said the urgency is real. "More jobs now require some level of postsecondary training - including more in the skilled trades," Rae said. "The world is not standing still. Neither should Ontario."

At the present time, 53 per cent of the 25 to 34 year olds in Ontario have a postsecondary education. To produce the trained workforce needed for the immediate future, Ontario colleges have proposed a new vision - to have at least 70 per cent of 25 to 34 year olds complete a postsecondary education.

Currently, Ontario colleges are ranked 10th of the 10 provinces in Canada in per-student revenue. To meet the targets set out in his report, Rae recommended funding to postsecondary education be significantly increased by the 2007-08 fiscal year. For Ontario colleges, operating funding must increase by at least $400 million by 2007-08.

"The government says it is committed to a new vision for colleges and higher education," said Miner. "The McGuinty government must prove this commitment is real by making major investments into colleges in the 2005 Ontario Budget."

To learn more of the campaign, visit the new website at www.fundcollegesnow.ca.

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For further information:

Rob Savage
ACAATO Communications
(416) 596-0744, ext. 239