UPCOMING EVENTS

Early in Q2 2010, we plan to launch a subscriber based newsletter that is global in scope. Our contributors will be some of the top vocational training experts in North America, and globally. There will be particular emphasis on news and events in the United States, Canada, India, China, Russia, Mexico, Chile, the Middle East, and Mongolia. We will highlight selective legal and regulatory issues, business issues, and demographic trends in the trades. Issues relating to local and global skilled labour shortages and the resolution of those shortages, standards and accreditation, and infrastructure decay, will rank high in priority. We will welcome the feedback of subscribers, who we hope will include vocational training colleges, academics, organizational and corporate executives, and even governments at every level.

April 21, 2010 to April 23, 2010

OACC Annual Career Conference for Career Colleges, Blue Mountain, Ontario, contact April Chato, Administrative Assistant, Ontario Association of Career Colleges, at 519.752.2124. Fogler Rubinoff LLP will be a Gold Sponsor at the event.

May 16, 2010 to May 18, 2010

National Association of Career Colleges Conference, Banff Park Lodge, Banff, Alberta, contact Anne Burns at 519.753.8689 for more details. Harris Rosen and Alan Wolfish Q.C. will be presenters on the topic of Accomodation of students.

June 9, 2010 to June 11, 2010

Career College Association Annual Convention and Exposition, The Palazzo Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada. 42nd President of the United States of America Bill Clinton will be the Featured Speaker at this year's event, which promises to bring out a record number of attendees.

CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS

April 14, 2010

The notion that private career colleges are synonymous with "misrepresentation" is clearly politically driven. I urge you to click on the link below in MacLean's online, which highlights a claim brought against George Brown College, a very prominent public college. The merits of such a claim are obviously unknown and must be proven in court. However, we suspect that such civilclaims are on the rise in relation to all educational institutions, public or private. So when private colleges are singled out by the press as the perpetrators of misrepresentation (directly or by inference), this is clearly unwarranted:
http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2010/04/12/george-brown-college-faces-class-action-lawsuit/

April 14, 2010

This article published in MacLeans online at http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2009/12/24/ontarios-crackdown-on-private-colleges-a-drop-in-the-bucket/2/ paints an unjust but common perception of the private college sector as a whole in Ontario and across Canada. Our response to it is similar to US Career College Association President Harris Miller's response to Peter Goodman's recent article in the New York Times. There are some very good private colleges which create a net trade benefit for Ontarians and Canadians (an argument which the US Career College Association has been making on behalf of its member colleges for many years), but which more importantly provide exemplary training that cannot be found anywhere else.
What caught our eye here was the statement in the article which read "In 2006, the government of China went so far as to release a statement advising students to avoid studying at private institutions in Canada…" But is this really the answer to the problem of rogue institutions? Or should each provincial government within Canada (education is provincially regulated in Canada, not federally regulated) and the sector itself not simply attempt to raise the standards of private education? Following two Ombudsman's Reports which were highly critical of the provincial government in Ontario, Ontario is cracking down on private colleges that run afoul of the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005. The following links make for an interesting read:
http://www.ombudsman.on.ca/en/media/press-releases/2009/too-cool-for-school-too-press-release.aspx

The problem we are facing is what we refer to as a "baby with the bath water" issue. The Ombudsman is justifiably critical of the government's approach to dealing with "bad" schools. But nowhere does the Ombudsman recommend that the government dispense with due process. The ancillary result of being grossly understaffed for the number of colleges it has to regulate (about 550 as at today's date) is the danger that "good" colleges and responsible operators will be netted in regulation designed to keep offending colleges out.
If provincial government regulators within Canada showed laxity and all but ignored the sector (and the regulation of the sector) prior to only September 18, 2006 (the coming into force of the more stringent Private Career Colleges Act, 2005), and "woke up" in response to the Ombudsman's reports in June of 2009, the danger is that generally well-intentioned civil servants will put colleges with high standards at risk, and worse yet create a chilling effect for would-be new sector entrants who have something positive to contribute. Responsible owners won't want to wait many months for program and/or campus approvals, and registrations and registration renewals.

Responsible registered college owners i.e. private business owners who often put everything on the line to educate and re-skill people, and make a tangible difference in someone's life, should not be painted with the brush that tarnishes private colleges generally.

April 9, 2010

TradeSchoolExpert applauds the response by the US Career College Association's President and CEO, Harris N. Miller, to Peter Goodman's March 13, 2010 article entitled "In Hard Times, Lured Into Trade School and Debt" published in the New York Times. We urge everyone to read Mr. Miller's response to the article, and we would add to his excellent points that both in Canada and the United States the labour market demands have changed dramatically. If trade and vocational training schools can incent workers to strive to become owners, the opportunities are boundless. Bill Gates was a computer geek without post-secondary education; Frank Stronach was a tool and dye maker in Canada. Nobody would argue that Microsoft and Magna are name brands both within and outside of their original locus. We would be shocked if either of these two influentials were to take a shot at the growth of a sector which will clearly bring a net trade surplus into North America, and which will address the current labour market demand and the alarming pace of sector-specific learning.

Harris Miller's response is found at http://www.career.org/iMISPublic/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=20211

PAST EVENTS AND IMPORTANT MILESTONES

November 5, 2009

Harris Rosen was asked by the National Association of Career Colleges (NACC) to speak on the issue of a college's duty to accommodate students under current human rights legislation. At NACC's Professional Development day, Harris presented for 90 minutes to approximately 100 colleges. Other presentations were made by the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities (on the issue of a proposed Qualifications Framework) and by those within the Health and Long-Term Care sector on the issue of how colleges can/should effectively deal with the H1N1 virus.

November 4, 2009

Alan Wolfish Q.C. travelled to China and Mongolia. As a member of the Advisory Board of the American School of Ulaanbaatar, Alan attended meetings and dispensed his advice and expertise with respect to the current and future operations of this international school. He also met with business leaders and government officials while in Mongolia. The trip was a huge success, allowing Alan to lend his expertise in a part of the developing world that is poised for future growth.

July 16, 2009

Harris Rosen and Alan Wolfish QC are cited in the Hamilton Spectator regarding the Ombudsman's Report entitled "Too Cool for School" investigating the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities' handling of Bestech Academy. Go to http://thespec.com/News/Business/article/600875 for details.

July 14, 2009

Ombudsman's Report is released, entitled "Too Cool for School", investigating the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities' handling of Bestech Academy. Go to www.ombudsman.on.ca for details.

June 14 to June 16, 2009

(US) Career College Association Convention and Exposition, World Centre Marriott Orlando. For details go to www.ccaconvention.org.

June 1, 2009

National Association of Career Colleges Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia: Harris Rosen and Alan Wolfish Q.C. were presenters on the issue of accomodation of existing and prospective students who have enumerated disabilities, and what obligations colleges have from a legal and human rights perspective. The session was tremendously interactive and sparked much debate from colleges representing a good cross-section of the country.

April 29, April 30, and May 1, 2009

OACC Annual Career Conference for Career Colleges, Niagara Falls, Ontario, contact April Chato, Administrative Assistant, Ontario Association of Career Colleges, at 519.752.2124.

October 10 to October 16, 2008

Alan Wolfish QC and Harris Rosen travelled to the Middle East where they have been actively involved in "exporting" their Canadian expertise.

July 29, 2008

Half Day Seminar at Fogler Rubinoff LLP. The focus was on how career colleges could maximize profitability and reduce their expenses. Marvin Hough, former Regional Vice-President (Asia) Export Development Corporation, gave a very informative and refreshing presentation on how to do business abroad and seek out unconventional, unfamiliar foreign markets as part of an overall growth strategy. Leasing lawyer Steve Cygelfarb of Fogler Rubinoff LLP stressed the importance of retaining experienced leasing counsel to negotiate a lease: he noted that many schools may be needlessly paying out tens of thousands of dollars, or more, over the lifespan of a lease, by not negotiating its terms up front. An in-depth analysis of TCAF was delivered by TCAF Board Chair Hartley Nichol and Dave McCarroll, C.A. Private Career College expert Harris Rosen, Fogler Rubinoff LLP talked about the purchase and sale of private career colleges, both in the context of an asset and share purchase. The event was co-chaired and moderated by Education and Government Relations Consultant Alan Wolfish Q.C. and Paul Kitchin Executive Director, Ontario Association of Career Colleges.

June 25 to June 28, 2008

(US) Career College Association Convention, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada. This exciting, well organized event brought out unprecedent attendance from across North America, with over 1700 attendees and a record number of vendors exhibiting. There was a remarkable breadth of talent packed into a roster of highly qualified speakers, and a powerful keynote address by former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich. Gingrich addressed the effect of technology on education, and what America must do to ensure that it keeps pace with the rest of the world when technology renders "yesterday's" innovations obselete. There were many events hosted by the Imagine America Foundation, whose work is critical to addressing the pandemic problem of global labour shortages.

June 13, 2008

The 35th Annual General Meeting of the Ontario Association of Career Colleges was held in Toronto. This was a strategic planning meeting for OACC members, and there was significant member turn-out for the event this year. For details regarding membership contact Paul Kitchin, Executive Director, Ontario Association of Career Colleges, tel: 519.752.2124, x.103, or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

June 2, 2008

Harris Rosen and Alan Wolfish QC were honoured to have been guest speakers at "Canada-India: A synergy in Education II" Event held at the Pearson Convention Centre in Toronto. This event was co-sponsored by Fogler Rubinoff LLP, Scotiabank, as well as many other notable sponsors. The Honourable Roy McLaren, P.C., Chairman, Canada-India Business Council, and His Excellency R.L. Narayan, High Commissioner of India to Canada, gave notable addresses, and the issue of resolving global trade shortages through skills development and education appeared to be a central topic of discussion for all speakers and delegates present.

October, 2007

Alan Wolfish QC travelled to the Far East where he plans to be more actively involved in the development of career college curricula and regulatory framework.