In a year and a half, a collaboration between six Northern Ontario colleges has helped 65 graduates find jobs in the North.
StayNorth, an initiative under Study North, which receives funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) to attract more students to Northern Ontario colleges, has already more than doubled its goal to keep 25 students in the North by the summer of 2017.
“Once students come and study in Northern Ontario, are trained here and fall in love with the atmosphere, we help them find jobs in the North,” said Alex Rogerson, the program's employment liaison officer.
Students about to graduate from six northern colleges – Confederation College, Sault College, Northern College, Canadore College and Sudbury's Collège Boréal and Cambrian College – can apply with StayNorth online (http://www.studynorth.ca/stay-north/).
From there, Rogerson helps connect them with employers throughout Northern Ontario who are looking for new employees.
Employers can also register with the StayNorth program online. (http://www.studynorth.ca/stay-north/)
“They just want to keep the youth here,” Rogerson said.
She added the program helps fight the perception there are no jobs available in Northern Ontario, which she said is false. Graduates landed jobs in a wide variety of fields, from nursing to environmental science.
Around half the graduates who found jobs through StayNorth were born and raised in Northern Ontario, while the other half are from different parts of Ontario or Canada.
“Once students come and study in Northern Ontario, are trained here and fall in love with the atmosphere, we help them find jobs in the North,” Rogerson said. “A lot of it really comes down to the lifestyle. They really like the work-life balance and what Northern Ontario has to offer in terms of scenery and outdoor activities.”
StayNorth has NOHFC funding until the summer of 2017. After that, Rogerson said it will be up to the six member colleges to decide whether they would like to apply for another funding round.
