Lakehead University plans to raise its student population to more than 3,500 students at the Orillia campus by 2032, as its sights are set on constructing a new academic building and introducing 10 new programs over that span.
The university’s local impact, history, and plans for the future were up for discussion at last week’s city council meeting, where Lakehead officials discussed the institution’s successes and plans for growth with city officials.
At the core of Lakehead’s mandate, according to interim principal Dr. Linda Rodenburg, is making education accessible to all.
Beginning with 101 students in 2006, the university has expanded to nearly 2,300 students today — with 47 per cent of its students coming from Simcoe County communities and 53 per cent of students being the first in their families to attend post-secondary education.
In total, Rodenburg said that 93 per cent of Lakehead’s undergraduate students face “at least one obstacle” to education.
“You might think that … would be a challenge for us, but indeed it's not,” Rodenburg said. “Instead, it creates a sense of community here in our city and an awareness of the shared ability to overcome obstacles together.”
With close to 100 Orillians studying at the university, and over 700 alumni calling the city home, 162 international students, from 36 different countries, have also studied at Lakehead Orillia over the past five years — a figure the university hopes to boost to 50 countries by 2032.
“If we were to draw arrows from all of these places to Orillia, this is a new home for so many people, and many of them want to stay and work here after their graduation,” Rodenburg said.
The university boasts a 97.2 per cent employment rate two years after graduation, with “well over 90 per cent” working in the field of their choice, Rodenburg said.
Rodenburg discussed the university’s relationship with the city, including a memorandum of understanding signed in 2019, and ongoing work to develop a poverty reduction strategy with the help of graduate students at Lakehead, among numerous other initiatives.
The university also provides lifelong learning opportunities, such as the Third Age Learning Lakehead (TALL) program for seniors, and the Ontario Youth Naturalist Program for local secondary students.
“Working together, I think it's who we are. Lakehead University and the city of Orillia are always working together to leverage our shared strengths,” Rodenburg said.
Looking to the future, Rodenburg said Lakehead plans to grow its local economic impact to $400 million by 2032 — on top of expanding its facilities and student population.
Rodenburg said the university anticipates a new building on campus in the next five years.
“We will, in that same time period, recruit and enrol over 3,500 students, add 10 new programs over the next (eight) years, and we're well on our way to that — we actually have six of those new programs established,” she said.
Following the presentation, Coun. Tim Lauer questioned how the federal government’s recent announcement — which will cap the number of international students in Canada — will impact the university’s goals.
Over the next two years, the intake of international students will be reduced by 35 per cent.
International students currently make up 21 per cent of Lakehead’s student population, a “significant number, in terms of our budget,” Rodenburg said.
“I think it absolutely will have an effect on our sector as a whole, and it will have an effect on Lakehead University,” Rodenburg responded. “After a tuition freeze, followed by a cut, followed by no real increase in student funding for such a long period of time, it's going to be very difficult for us to really absorb this change in relation to our financial health.”
Rodenburg said the university plans to work “really hard” with the government as they implement the new system for international students, noting Lakehead Orillia has “the tools to help our students find the housing they need.”
Coun. Janet-Lynne Durnford questioned where the university is with regard to off-campus housing, an idea that has been discussed as a possibility for the university in the past.
“Housing, as you know, is a really, really big issue right now for our students, and we are definitely talking to both the city and the county about those things,” Rodenburg said.
The university is currently working on a housing strategy, Rodenburg said, and recently distributed a student survey to learn more about their housing wants and needs.
“We plan to draw on that survey to really think through those ideas. I'm committed to multi-generational (housing) ideas myself; I think there's some real potential there and we're talking to our partners at Georgian College, too, about how we can move those conversations forward,” she said.
“I would say that within the next month, we will have a real sense of direction about how to move forward on those things.”
