The provincial government has introduced legislative amendments meant to make the process for launching new programs more efficient for some post-secondary institutions.
"Private institutions have expressed interest in offering new degree programs that align with the province's evolving labour market needs, and we want to do what we can to assist these efforts," said Jean-Claude D'Amours, acting minister of post-secondary education, training and labour. "These changes strike a balance between providing these institutions with more flexibility to prepare for delivery of new programs, while still ensuring program quality and student protections are in place prior to program delivery."
An Act Respecting the Degree Granting Act, if passed, would give the minister additional authority to:
- Approve new programs at existing degree-granting institutions.
- Specify terms and conditions of approvals.
- Suspend or revoke an approval following a review by the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission.
- Allow institutions to advertise a program prior to its approval once certain steps in the review process have been completed.
The act, as it now exists, requires institutions that want to offer a new program to officially request designation through a letter to the minister. These requests result in an evaluation being carried out by the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission. This evaluation can take anywhere from six months to several years.
Final approval of new programs currently comes from cabinet, but the proposed changes would shorten the process by providing that authority to the minister for institutions already designated under the act.
The changes would also allow the minister to permit promotion of a new program if the commission has reviewed the program, conducted a site visit, and reports that the institution is on track for approval; such promotion is currently prohibited.
These changes would not affect institutions governed by their own legislation, such as the province's four publicly funded universities.
