COLLEGE OF NEW CALEDONIA
Coastal GasLink legacy awards to support students in academic upgrading and community social services; brings company's contribution to CNC to $465,000

CNC students will have new financial support to succeed in academic upgrading as well as community social services thanks to a $65,000 gift from Coastal GasLink.

The new Coastal GasLink Community Strength Awards will provide a range of bursaries for the next three years as well as a permanent award. The awards will support learners who are upgrading their education as adults, as well as those completing education to provide vital community support services.

"Learning across a lifetime is one of the key goals of CNC's lhulh whuts'odutel'eh | Learning Together strategy plan. We are grateful to Coastal GasLink for this gift to the college, which will support learners in creating new futures for themselves and the communities in which they live and work," said Wendy Male, CNC's dean of human services, university studies, and business.

The new awards will support students in the following ways:

• For the next three years, students will benefit from 10 bursaries a year of $1,000 supporting:
  • One student demonstrating financial need studying in a social service or community support worker program at the college;
  • Four students enrolled in academic upgrading who demonstrate a financial need; and
  • Five Indigenous students in in academic upgrading.
• On an on-going basis, a permanent $1,000 bursary will support a student in the social service work applied diploma program or the social service work university transfer diploma.

"This latest partnership with CNC builds on our goals of skills development and long-term education programs supporting Indigenous and local communities. We are confident this contribution to CNC students will improve lives and strengthen communities," added Natasha Westover, Manager, External Relations, British Columbia: TC Energy.

The funding of social services and community support worker education is intended to support a vital need for skilled personnel. The BC Labour Market Outlook projects 11,460 job openings for social service and community support workers in the province over the next decade.

The new awards for academic upgrading will provide hope and opportunity for several CNC students. More than 330 students enroll in academic upgrading every year, helping them to open new doors to academic programs to achieve their career goals.

This latest contribution from Coastal GasLink brings the company's contributions to CNC to a total of $465,000. Previous gifts have supported:

• Trades and technologies awards and bursaries;
• Equipment purchases at campuses in Burns Lake, Fort St. James, Mackenzie, Prince George, and Vanderhoof; and
• A safety training week conducted in 2022 that provided students with a range of industry certification courses.