Anyone planning their post-secondary future is invited to our College Information Program (CIP) events hosted at Durham College on Thursday, October 26.

Connect with representatives from over 20 Ontario colleges to learn about programs, admission requirements and campus life. Visitors will also be able to tour both of our Durham College (DC) campuses to explore modern learning spaces, meet current students and learn about why people love DC.

At our Oshawa campus, the event will be held in the Global Classroom of the Centre for Collaborative Education (CFCE) from 10 a.m. to noon.  

At our Whitby campus, you’ll find it in the front atrium of the main building from 6 to 8 p.m.

For more information, please contact Rachel Beerman, student recruitment marketing specialist.

Students and employees at Durham College (DC) heard from a renowned speaker and mental health advocate this week in recognition of World Mental Health Day.

Mike Shoreman brought his inspiring story of recovery, triumph and advocacy to DC. After being diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome and struggling with depression, he rebuilt his mental health and his life in order to become the first person with a disability to cross all five Great Lakes. At the Campus Health and Wellness Centre, he shared the highs and lows of his inspiring story while encouraging members of the campus community to develop their own mental health resilience, perseverance and drive.

“I strongly believe that we all have mental health in the same way that we all have physical health. We’re all facing mental health struggles and challenges every day, even if we don’t realize it,” he said.

Speaking to DC students, he reflected on his own time as a post-secondary student, and recalled the immense pressure he felt to succeed.

“Am I measuring up to my expectations? Am I measuring up to the expectations of my family, and my teachers? Am I fitting in? Do I belong here? It’s really hard being a student.”

That pressure followed him into adulthood, when he built a successful business as a paddleboarding coach. Although he was doing what he loved, the long hours and constant demands on his time and energy pushed him to his breaking point.

“Have you ever felt like you’re just doing everything, and it’s never going to end? I felt like that,” he said. “I was working myself into the ground, and I didn’t realize what I was doing. I didn’t see it until it was too late.”

The life he had built came crashing down with his Ramsay Hunt diagnosis in 2018, and a dark period of depression followed. But with the support of his family, he sought treatment for his mental health challenges. In the process of restoring his own health, he discovered a passion for showing others how to improve their lives, from the inside out.

“I feel like it’s a responsibility. I try to help one person every day,” he said. “There’s never been a more important time to talk about mental health, and fight the stigma that surrounds it. It starts with having a conversation, just checking in on somebody and saying, how are you doing?”

If you missed his presentation, you can watch it online now. To learn more about Mike Shoreman, visit his website.

Durham College (DC) celebrated the grand opening of the Barrett Centre of Innovation in Sustainable Urban Agriculture’s Ajax Urban Farm today – a modern agricultural green space that’s leading the way in food literacy and security in Durham Region and beyond.

Managed by DC’s Faculty of Hospitality and Horticultural Science, the Barrett Centre’s Ajax Urban Farm is a community-based living lab where DC students gain hands-on learning experiences through the farm’s mission to build a more resilient, inclusive, collaborative and diverse food system in our community. This initiative is made possible thanks to the Barrett Family Foundation and through partnerships with the Town of Ajax and the Regional Municipality of Durham.

“The Barrett Centre’s Ajax Urban Farm is truly leading the way by adding to Durham Region’s agricultural strategy in developing a strong locally sourced food supply for years to come,” said Don Lovisa, president, Durham College. “Our community is directly benefiting from the resources developed here by our expert faculty and experiential learning student-led projects.”

The location for the urban farm was announced just a year ago and since then the Barrett Centre team has made great progress and the community has felt an immediate impact.

 Beyond beautiful gardens and orchards, the site features an apiary, hoop houses and a Food Literacy Zone which educates the public on nutrition. A recent addition was an accessible hydroponic indoor farm, which provides fresh produce year-round and is the first of its kind at a Canadian post-secondary institution and the second in all of Canada to be AODA compliant. A significant component of the Barrett Centre’s Ajax Urban Farm is its online community portal – a digital resource hub dedicated to empowering, supporting and educating the public on urban agriculture and food literacy.

“The online portal is an extension of the work done on the farm and connects the Barrett Centre with the community in new ways,” says Kelly O’Brien, associate dean, Faculty of Hospitality & Horticultural Science. “It provides an opportunity for everyone in our community to access resources, have discussions and even ask our expert faculty-specific questions about urban agriculture. From stories on our blog to recipes and educational activities – there really is something for everyone.”

The Barrett Centre’s Ajax urban farm is inspiring people to make a difference in their community and is truly making an impact. With urban farming becoming more and more popular, it inspires not only the community but DC Horticulture Food and Farming students and graduates like Paul Fritzsch to take action.

“Shortly after beginning my education at DC, I soon found myself gravitating towards finding solutions for solving food insecurity,” said Fritzsch. “I worked with fellow students on a partnership project with Colliers Canada and also launched my own business Urban Farm Solutions which has grown and donated over 250 kilograms of food to Community Care Durham on behalf of Colliers and their tenants.”

Subscribe to the Barrett Centre’s Ajax Urban Farm newsletter to stay up-to-date on recent projects or email the farm to book a visit or tour.

Durham College (DC) student Shane Friedman was one of 13 students to participate in what he calls a “life-changing” trip abroad to Guatemala and now he’s sharing the benefits of the trip with education and government leaders in Ottawa in October.

In February 2023, a group of students from the Faculty of Media, Art and Design (MAD) travelled to the small Indigenous community of Las Arrugas, Guatemala through a Faculty-Led Classroom Abroad (FLCA) trip.

While there, DC students worked with Indigenous youth in the community.

“Our goal was basically to teach the students there about media production – whether it be photo or video – and then how to take those skills and reach out to their local media outlets or leverage social media so that they could produce their own content and tell their stories and try to empower themselves and advocate for their own rights,” said Friedman, who is now a second-year video production student.

DC students also produced content from the trip including a short film from Friedman where he interviewed a leader in Las Arrugas. He shared his film in April when the DC students reunited with their friends from Guatemala virtually in The Rotary Global Classroom at Durham College.

He explains that the DC students not only picked up real-world media production experience, but they could demonstrate that they were doing good in the community they visited.

“We could come back and say, look, the people in this community greatly benefited from us being there and here are the photos and video to actually provide proof of that.”

In Ottawa between October 2 and 4, Friedman will be attending events organized by Global Skills Opportunity (GSO) and Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan). Domestic students who participate in FLCA trips are funded by GSO with no cost to the students and Friedman said he plans to talk about what a “tremendous experience” the trip was for him and his peers at DC and how it benefited the community in Guatemala.

DC faculty member and Film and Motion Design: Media Fundamentals program coordinator Jennifer Bedford led the FLCA trip and gave Friedman kudos for his team spirit and impact on his peers.

“Shane’s enthusiasm was contagious, inspiring his fellow team members and the local community alike. His positive attitude and tireless work ethic were instrumental in keeping things on track and motivating the team, even in challenging circumstances,” she said. “His ability to maintain a sense of excitement and purpose greatly contributed to the project’s overall success in Guatemala.”

Bedford said the international learning opportunity for MAD students is a catalyst for engaging with Indigenous and all communities worldwide.

“The Home and Away: Storytelling FLCA gives DC students an opportunity to collaborate with local Mayan youth to craft and share media stories highlighting Indigenous rights, not only in Canada but also on a global scale,” she said. “This cross-cultural journey will equip them with the essential skills needed to be both global citizens and professionals.”

Learn more about Faculty-Led Classrooms Abroad at Durham College.

Durham College (DC) recognizes the 10^th anniversary of Orange Shirt Day and the third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation through remembrance, reflection and action around the history and impact of residential schools on First Nations, Inuit and Métis families and communities.

“As an organization, DC is committed to reconciliation, with the goal of building respectful, reciprocal relationships that contribute to better educational outcomes for all students,” said Don Lovisa, president, Durham College. “And, as an education institution, we are committed to providing space for meaningful conversations and reflection on the impacts of residential schools and their legacy as well as sharing resources for our DC community to learn more about the history of Indigenous Peoples, and ways to take meaningful steps towards reconciliation.”

Together with Ontario Tech University, Durham College is hosting Recognizing Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, in The Rotary Global Classroom on September 29. Employees and students were invited to participate and hear from speakers Kevin Lamoureux, award-winning scholar from the University of Winnipeg; Elder Dorothy Taylor, a Mississauga Ojibwe Elder from Curve Lake First Nation; and Elder Dr. Shirley Williams, who is Midewiwin and a member of the Bird Clan from the Wikwemikong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island.

In recognition of this important day, today, the Every Child Matters flag has been raised to honour children who attended residential schools. Tomorrow, the flags at the Whitby and Oshawa campuses will be lowered to half-mast and, at sundown, the DC sign and Connect sculpture at the bus loop at the Oshawa campus, and the atrium at the Whitby campus main building, will be illuminated orange.

With the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation approaching on September 30, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) reporter Priscilla Wolf joined Durham College (DC) students for a discussion about Indigenous issues. 

Appearing virtually in The Rotary Global Classroom on September 26, Wolf fielded questions from the assembled students and shared stories from her life and career as an Indigenous woman who is committed to representing her community.

“I love working at APTN because we get to tell our stories from our point of view. Indigenous stories,” she said. With the benefit of her lived experience and knowledge of her culture, she tells those stories with empathy and integrity. While stressing that journalists of all backgrounds can and should cover Indigenous issues, she acknowledged that being a member of the community makes her work that much more personal.

First recognized in 2021, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation brings those issues to the forefront, particularly the history of residential schools. While those harsh truths must be acknowledged, Wolf sees the growing recognition as a positive step towards reconciliation.

“I think it’s important, because it shows how we’ve changed and how we’ve improved. It’s not just about how badly Indigenous people were treated. It’s also showing how the relationship has evolved with the Canadian government, and how Indigenous people have thrived and are still thriving today.”

Journalism professor Joanne MacDonald was pleased to see her students make the most of a unique opportunity to hear from someone as experienced and accomplished as Wolf.

“Hearing from frontline journalists in Canada is a pretty amazing experience. Students asked great questions, they listened and I think they learned a lot,” she said. “Diversity makes for better journalism.”

The event was part of the Voices in Journalism series. Every year, first-year Journalism students work with Durham Region’s CityStudio to produce a handful of events where speakers from across Canada and beyond share their wisdom and experience in panels on equity, diversity and inclusion in journalism.

It’s an invaluable opportunity for future journalists like Ganga Rajesh, who helped to moderate the event, and Gage Patte, who took a leading role in it.

“It’s important to learn from someone who’s had so much experience in the field. We’re going into the news industry, so we have to consider all these different perspectives and these different experiences that people we’re going to be working with have been through,” said Patte.  

As an international student who is just beginning to learn about the complicated history of Indigenous people in Canada, Rajesh was grateful for the chance to benefit from Wolf’s firsthand experience.

That sentiment was shared by their classmate, Simran Deb.

“I think that as journalists, it’s really important to listen to Indigenous voices,” she said.

Durham College (DC) is helping small businesses and startups take the next steps to bring their products and services to market, as a result of a $300,000 grant from Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON), expanding DC’s capacity to foster innovation and entrepreneurial growth in Ontario.

This new funding will further expand the intellectual property advisory services from DC’s Office of Research Services, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE). More than 50 business clients are expected to take advantage of the tailored resources and mentorship to help them navigate the complexities of intellectual property and commercialization. DC students participating in FastStart, the college’s on-campus Entrepreneurship Centre, will have expanded opportunities to learn about intellectual property so that they can protect and leverage this vital business asset.

“By enhancing our services and providing commercialization expertise at DC, we’ll be able to educate our clients and student entrepreneurs on developing an intellectual property strategy and increase their understanding of the commercialization process – steps that are crucial to the long-term success of their products and services,” said Debbie McKee Demczyk, dean, ORSIE. “With the support of IPON, our office will continue to serve as a hub for innovation, fostering economic growth and creating opportunities for our clients, students and faculty to succeed.”

Training in intellectual property literacy will also be available, eliminating barriers clients face when navigating the process by themselves, often affecting their impact and profitability. A limited number of high-potential clients will also have access to financial support to cover costs related to filing and regulatory fees and to procure legal services.

 Community members, business owners, start-ups and students can benefit from DC’s IP expertise during ORSIE’s first TechTalk event on Friday, October 27 at the Oshawa Campus.

DC is among seven post-secondary institutions to receive the funding. IPON’s $2-million pilot project is part of the Commercialization Mandate Policy Framework, an initiative aimed at helping post-secondary institutions advance their research and innovation efforts for the benefit of Ontario.

For more information or to access advisory services, contact Joshua Cohen, Commercialization Specialist at DC, or visit us online to learn more about ORSIE and the college’s applied research services and projects.