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January 27, 2022

Thousands of students, faculty, and staff in colleges across Atlantic Canada are taking advantage of the learning opportunities offered by LinkedIn Learning.  

As members of Atlantic Colleges Atlantique (ACA), Nova Scotia Community College, College North Atlantic, Holland College, New Brunswick Community College, Université Sainte Anne, and Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick have all signed on to a three-year agreement leading the way in being LinkedIn Canada’s first multi-provincial consortium.  

Dr. Alexander (Sandy) MacDonald, chair of the ACA and president of Holland College, said the importance of providing students and staff with additional learning opportunities came to the forefront during the pandemic, when post-secondaries across the region were forced to pivot to online learning and students and faculty had to adapt quickly.

“LinkedIn Learning resources can augment curriculum we are using in our colleges and give our students the ability to ensure that their skills are current and relevant in the workforce,” he said. “We are delighted that these ACA member colleges embraced the project. Colleges are leading the way by being the first in the Atlantic region to offer LinkedIn Learning to support the needs of students during these unprecedented times in our labour market,” he said.

The partnership benefits all members of the college community. Students are gaining cutting-edge skills necessary to compete for jobs in their field and expand their professional networks. Staff are acquiring skills that enable them to be more productive and to feel more engaged, improving their employee experience. For faculty, using LinkedIn resources with their curriculum to provide information on the latest software and skills allows for deeper discussions as students can quickly incorporate the concepts.

LinkedIn Learning Account Director Jennifer Catallo said the ACA partnership enables the member institutions to bring together extraordinary opportunities to transform learning.

“The ACA college members are the only academic institutions in the Atlantic region to offer their students, staff and faculty will full access to over 16,000 LinkedIn Learning resources. Through this unique partnership, these colleges are enabling staff and faculty to keep their skills up to date and encouraging students to learn in-demand hard and soft skills to complement what they are learning in the classroom. Through this partnership, the ACA and LinkedIn are collaborating to facilitate economic growth in the region by taking a skills-based approach to opportunity. We could not be more thrilled to work with these innovative institutions,” she said.

ABOUT THE ACA

Atlantic Colleges Atlantique (ACA) is the association of public institutions in Atlantic Canada delivering college programming with a total of 60,000 full and part time students annually at more than 40 campus locations.  ACA is incorporated under federal legislation, the Canada Not-For-Profit Corporations Act, April 1, 2018.

The purpose of ACA is to develop and manage a college advocacy strategy and collaborative initiatives on behalf of its institutions across the region. To achieve its mission, ACA does two key things: it advocates on a shared agenda, and it facilitates collaboration and acquires resources for strategic priorities. 

The three strategic pillars of ACA are:

• Building organizational capacity;
• Innovative, flexible program offerings and support services which will result in increased college participation; and,
• Advocacy on behalf of the college sector. Through strategic collaboration and innovation, colleges are a crucial catalyst for economic, social, and environmental development in Atlantic Canada.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Tanya Greer,
Lead, Strategic Communications
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Phone: 506-440-9105
Email: tanya.greer@nbcc.ca