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New aviation talent rises to meet demand

Employment gaps across the Canadian aviation industry have made the 4th annual Confederation College Aviation Day more important than ever.

Students in the aviation technician/aircraft maintenance and aviation flight management (piloting) programs had the chance to network with over 25 potential employers at the Aviation Centre of Excellence on campus Wednesday afternoon.

The fair also featured events and challenges such as a VR piloting experience and a technician skills competition.

Reps from Pop-Up VR show off their immersive VR piloting experience at Aviation Day (Jacob Henriksen-Willis/March 11 2026)

“The industry is so short for pilots and aircraft mechanics right now,” said Matt Bunn, Associate Dean of Confederation’s Aviation Centre of Excellence. “It’s such a good time to get into aviation. Ten years ago would have been a different scene, but we’ve got so many different employers that are coming to us and seeking our grads.”

“It’s a very mutually beneficial event for both industry and the students of our two aviation programs.”

Confederation Aviation School of Excellence Vice President Matt Bunn at Wednesday’s job fair (Jacob Henriksen-Willis/March 11 2026)

Representatives from main line airlines Air Canada and Porter attended the fair, as well as the Royal Canadian Air Force and the OPP.

“5, 10 years down the line, you’re going to see me in the airlines, definitely,” said Oliver Morgan, second-year student in Confederation’s piloting program. “You’re going to hear Captain Morgan on the airways, and I’m not talking about the liquor.”

Morgan will be interning with Perimeter airlines in the summer after graduation.

“You work really hard to be able to showcase your skills at a high level. Being able to get into the industry basically straight out the gate is just fortunate,” Morgan said.

Sean Park, a second-year student in the aircraft maintenance program, echoes Morgan’s sentiment.

Second-year aircraft maintenance student Sean Park at Aviation Day (Jacob Henriksen-Willis/March 11 2026)

“If I can say anything to the first years or any potential students, I’d tell them to just come and say hi and explore, try new things, get your hands on as many things as you can, and just see where life takes you,” Park said. “I really liked working on things, and I started off working on computers for my friends and family. I started in journalism, but a lot of my friends I met doing that told me to give aircraft maintenance a try. So I came all the way here to Thunder Bay from BC to do just that.”

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Confederation College welcomes funding increase

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The president of Confederation College is offering her appreciation to the provincial funding increase announced last week.

Ontario’s colleges are to get increases starting this fall.

The exact amount of money Confederation College will receive is not immediately known.

Michelle Salo says it should help avoid budget deficits that have been projected for this year and next.

“This fiscal year will end in a deficit, and next year was going to be a large deficit, which would be almost impossible to try and balance based on our current cost structure and all the efficiencies that we’ve already implemented as a college,” says Salo.

“So this additional funding really helps us to be able to manage a budget that’s a potential deficit that’s much more reasonable and something that we can work towards.”

Confederation College President Michelle Salo speaks to community members during a visit to Kenora, June 2025. Image: Tim Davidson

Last year, the college cut several programs.

Salo says the new funding would not have saved those programs because the moves were done in response to the federal government’s cap on foreign students.

“Unfortunately, the current funding won’t reverse any of those changes that we made, but it will help to continue to support the existing programming that we have,” says Salo.

Colleges will also benefit from a 2% increase in tuition fees.

This ends a tuition freeze that was put in place in 2018 after the province reduced them by 10%.

Salo says the increase will not address all of the revenue lost to colleges since.

“If you consider there was a 10% reduction in 2018 and it’s frozen since, the cumulative impact on the revenue is significant,” says Salo.

“It’s well over 30 % on the tuition side if we hadn’t had the drop in the freeze. So 2% is really a drop in the bucket, but it definitely helps to support, again, the future sustainability. And I think it’s a reasonable amount for students.”

The College is currently planning its budget for the next year.

The number of international students is expected to decline further as the federal cap continues to take hold.

Domestic student enrollment is expected to remain about the same for 2026-27 as it is now.

Salo says they are hoping to soon hear from the province on the exact amount of money they will receive, so they can finalize the budget and present it to the Board of Directors for approval in March.

Two scientists working on computers in a laboratory.

Confederation College program added to Learn and Stay Grant program

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The provincial government is expanding its Learn and Stay Grant program.

It offers free tuition and support with other school expenses to students who study in certain programs in return for working in underserved areas, including northern Ontario, for at least two years.

Students who enrol in the medical laboratory science program at Confederation College this fall will be the latest to be eligible.

College President Michelle Salo welcomes the news.

“Confederation College is proud to see the expansion of the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant to our medical laboratory programs, a move that will have a profound impact on health care in Thunder Bay and across Northwestern Ontario,” states Salo in a release.

“By removing financial barriers and supporting learners who commit to staying in the region, this investment strengthens our communities and helps ensure access to critical diagnostic services close to home.”

The program is also being extended to students who enrol in a medical laboratory technology program at Canadore College in North Bay.

Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn says it will address the need for a highly-skilled healthcare workforce in the north.

“With two new OLSG-eligible medical laboratory programs in Northern Ontario, we’re removing financial barriers to help passionate, dedicated students pursue a world-class education, while connecting more people to high-quality care in their community,” states Quinn.

The expansion builds on the thousands of nurses, paramedics and medical laboratory technologists who have been or will be added to the region’s workforce with the support of Learn and Stay since 2023.

The province says more than $171 million has gone to 12,700 students across the province.

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Thunder Bay post-secondary institutions receiving funding to train more students

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Both Confederation College and Lakehead University (LU) have received money from the provincial government to help the organizations train more students.

The college is receiving the bulk of the funding, a total of $2,238,925, to train up to 267 additional students in construction programs.

“Between the multiple (construction) programs, the demand is huge. There’s obviously major construction that’s happening in northwestern Ontario, and these programs help to support that work,” said Confederation College President Michelle Salo.

“There’s definitely domestic student demand. That’s what we saw this past fall with the intake, so we’re hoping it will continue.”

The programs are also available to eligible international students.

According to the college, most of the students stay in the north to continue their careers.

An additional $800,320 is being delivered to Lakehead to expand enrollment in nursing programs at the university.

“Absolutely wonderful news for Lakehead and for our nursing program, but more importantly for the city of Thunder Bay in the region of Northwestern,” said the President and Vice Chancellor of Lakehead University, Dr. Gillian Siddall.

“Nurses are the backbone of our healthcare system, and I think particularly so in the north and in more rural and remote regions of the north, so it’s just fantastic news.”

LU was unable to provide information on how many more students will be able to enter a nursing program with the funding.

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Province Provides Funding For Local PSW Training

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The province is making $10.6 million available to train 500 personal support workers and other health care professionals in northwestern Ontario.

Labour and Skills Training Minister Monte McNaughton says each participant could receive up to $3,000.

“Costs for transportation, uniforms, equipment, and occasional child care are all covered,” states McNaughton.

“And for employers, they can receive $1,000 to offset the cost of on-the-job training.”

He adds that this project covers training, fees, and textbooks, prioritizing those who are unemployed, underemployed, or at risk of losing their jobs.

Each participant will receive a job placement in the community and ongoing support, continuing after they graduate.

Kathleen Lynch is president of Confederation College and they will be doing the training for the six-month courses.

“Confederation College will train 500 learners to be personal support workers, home and community support workers, and medical laboratory assistants and connect these trained workers with employers who urgently require their in-demand skillsets.”

Confederation College will provide the training at its campuses across northwestern Ontario.

To apply, you can email SAOhealthcare@confederationcollege.ca or call 807-475-6353.

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College Releases Decolonization Report

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Confederation College has a new road map to keep rooting out systemic anti-Indigenous racism.

President Kathleen Lynch says the school’s Decolonization Committee, involving Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, is presenting its new Decolonization Report.

It’s a work plan for how to carry out the 24 recommendations from a 2019 systemic racism report. The document lays out steps like training for all employees and creating a decolonization policy.

Those also include dealing with third-party vendors and making sure they have appropriate training, hiring more Indigenous people at the college, reviewing and changing policies and practices, and developing a tool kit to help Indigenous students in distress. .

The Decolonization Committee started its work in February 2020, and the pandemic forced it to delay the report and continue discussions in virtual meetings.

She points out this will involve some difficult conversations to confront systemic racism, which she says more people are starting to do after the discovery of a mass grave at a Kamloops, B.C. former residential school.

“But we have people who don’t understand that history, and don’t realize that we all have a part to play in reconciliation with Indigeous people,” she admits.

Lynch says this work will never be over, but they will give yearly updates and re-evaluate the progress they’ve made three to four years from now.

“I think we’ll need to refresh and say, ‘Well, what’s next now? What have we accomplished and what do we still have to do?’ and we will develop a report card for ourselves to see how we’re progressing,” Lynch adds.

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College Media, Tourism Programs Axed

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It’s the end of two programs at Confederation College as it permanently suspends its Digital Media Production and Tourism, Travel, and Eco-adventure offerings.

Academic Vice President Neil Cooke explains it’s because of declining enrolment, especially in Digital Media.

He explains it’s the successor to the Broadcasting program, which was reworked into Digital Media in 2018.

“They had basically a three-year run. The first two years, we started off with 28 students in the class, and it started to slide immediately in the following year, 2019, and then last year enrolment was so low that we suspended the intake,” Cooke says.

The current class of students will be able to graduate, and no new students will be accepted into the programs.

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College To Hold Fundraiser Auction

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You can support Confederation College students and have a chance to win Indigenous art prints in a fundraiser auction.

The school is holding the second part of its Community Partners’ Evening at Home, with the goal of raising another $8,000 on top of the $27,000 from the first event.

You can go to the college’s website to bid, and all proceeds will go to student scholarships, awards and bursaries.

The auction runs from 8:00 Friday morning to 5:00 PM on Sunday, and features prints by artists like Norval Morrisseau, Douglas Kakekagumick and Lloyd Kakepetum.

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College Wraps Up “Year Of Viruses”

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Confederation College is looking back on a very eventful year.

President Kathleen Lynch explains that while the pandemic dominated 2020, the school also suffered a cyber attack in late January.

“[2020], we say, has been the year of the viruses, and has been really challenging for staff who have worked really hard to respond to both,” Lynch explains.

“[With] people taking us up on those offerings, we’re going to be able to expand what we offer right across the region, and in Ontario and the world, now that we’ve been able to pivot to more distance education,” she says.

Confederation has also gotten more offers for partnerships with organizations and other colleges across the province.

Looking at this year, Lynch says they’re going to gradually return some programs to in-person lab work so students won’t have to delay graduation.

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Confederation College Offers Risk-Free Learning

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It’s similar to try it before you buy it.

Confederation College has decided to offer a formal commitment for its first year, first semester students this fall.

The college is enabling full-time incoming students to experience a Confederation education risk-free until October 7th.

“We stand proudly behind the quality of education for which we are known, regardless of delivery method,” said Kathleen Lynch, President. “This commitment underlines this fact and assures students that they can expect a positive learning experience this fall. These unprecedented times call for an unprecedented approach. Students can take a full four weeks to immerse themselves in their studies before deciding if they’ve made the right choice, turning their dreams into a reality by enrolling in one of our many programs.”

If students decide the current learning environment isn’t for them at this time, they can withdraw as late as October 7, 2020, without academic penalty and receive a full tuition refund, including their tuition fees and deposit. This Commitment is being made for the fall 2020 semester only.

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