Session

The Northern Colleges Collaborative Programming (NCCP) began in 2014 as a joint initiative between six Ontario colleges – Collège Boréal, Cambrian College, Canadore College, Confederation College, Northern College, and Sault College. The intent was to create a transformative model for the collaborative development and delivery of programming, thus improving postsecondary education for students across Northern Ontario.The NCCP project has transformed into a successful model unparalleled across the post-secondary landscape in Ontario. The six colleges receive funding from the Ontario government to design and deliver shared programs, including multiple micro-credentials. Working together, the colleges are able to increase their capacity by sharing resources. This innovative collaboration demonstrates creative thinking and responds to the new realities of emerging technologies, fiscal constraint, and changing demographics in the North. Through five phases of NCCP many successes have been achieved benefiting students at the six colleges, assisting employers in the communities served by the colleges, and strengthening the colleges themselves as post-secondary institutions. In the current Phase V (2023-24), the six college partners have continued to work together to pursue collaborative development of numerous micro-credentials that respond to labour market needs in the North and that contribute to the well-being of each individual institution. In this CICan presentation four of the college NCCP leads will present this innovative approach to course development and delivery. The partners will share their framework, successes and challenges, and discuss the many ways in which this collaboration continues to evolve into a scalable model applicable beyond the six colleges.