A Year in Review – 2022 at Durham College

It was another busy year at Durham College (DC)! From hosting events, launching new programs, establishing partnerships and winning awards, our DC community has truly been leading the way in 2022.

Here’s a look at some of our favourite highlights of the year.

Events

In-person events were back on the calendar this spring for the first time since 2019 with Convocation, which saw more than 3,500 students cross the stage and Open House welcoming the next generation of DC students. The Harvest Dinner also returned, with students from the horticulture, culinary, events management and hospitality programs working together to create a memorable evening for 105 guests.

We also led the way with a number of unique educational opportunities at DC. The STOP THE BLEED® event set a record with over 200 campus community members learning life-saving skills. And, later in the year, Grade 7 and 8 girls explored potential careers during the Expand the Possibilities 4.0: Young Women in Science, Technology and Trades Conference event.

News

The grand opening of the new Ontario Power Generation Centre for Skilled Trades and Technology marked a new era for the Whitby campus. Filled with numerous specialized labs and shops, it solidifies DC’s status as a top destination for students entering the industrial skilled trades.

DC’s Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship celebrated many funding achievements: the Social Impact Hub received a $25,000 grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning (CEWIL) Canada provided more than $100,000 in funding for two of its work-integrated learning projects; and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada granted $440,000 in COVID recovery funding.

Our commitment to social responsibility remained strong this year. The DC community teamed with the Global Guardian Project to send life-saving medical kits to Ukraine, and President Don Lovisa committed to fighting global injustice by signing the Sustainable Developments Goals accord. We also published our first Diversity Self-Identification survey.

DC and Metrolinx made history with a 10-year naming partnership that saw the former Oshawa GO Station renamed Durham College Oshawa GO. And our footprint continued to expand when we partnered with the Barrett Family Foundation, Invest Durham and Durham Region to break ground on the Barrett Centre for Urban Agriculture’s new urban farm project in north Ajax.

Programs

DC continued its push to evolve post-secondary education in a number of ways this year.

Two new technology-focused programs began in September, and eight certificate, graduate certificate and diploma programs will now be available in a flexible weekend delivery format. Another accelerated version of the Personal Support Worker program will allow students to graduate within six months while a new compressed Early Childhood Education program will enable students to graduate within 14 months.

Funding from the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development allowed DC to launch three Pre-Apprenticeship programs to increase the number of Canadians who are job-ready in a skilled trade, and employment-seekers facing higher barriers to entry. Finally, DC announced a pair of new degree programs; the Honours Bachelor of Community Mental Health and the Honours Bachelor of Paralegal. Both programs will launch in September 2023.

Accolades

DC students are among the best and brightest, and they proved it all year.

Eight students won awards at the 2022 Virtual Skills Ontario Competition, five of whom travelled to Vancouver, leading the way to silver and bronze medal victories at the Skills Canada National competition.

Five Project Management students won first place in the Ontario Project Management Competition and two Game-Art students made waves at Ubisoft Toronto’s NEXT competition.

Two students were named Canada’s best new student chefs at the Taste Canada Awards Gala. Enactus DC won the RBC Future Launch Accelerator and ranked in the top 20 of all social initiatives at the Enactus Canada National Exposition. They had another triumph when they placed first at the Hong Kong Global Social Innovation Summit.

DC’s student-produced newspaper, The Chronicle, took home top honours in the General Excellence – College/University category at the Ontario Community Newspaper Association’s Better Newspapers competition.

Former students have also been making news this year. Cody Partridge, a 2011 graduate of the Music Business program, notched four wins at the Canadian Sync Awards. In the fall, 2015 Culinary Management graduate Trevane ‘Tre’ Sanderson claimed victory on the hit show Top Chef Canada.

The college received its own accolades as well. DC was named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for the sixth consecutive year, and one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers for the 12th time.

As we embark on the year ahead, DC will undoubtedly continue to lead the way in Durham Region and beyond.