Largest municipalities in Canada without a university?

[kwoldtimer]

The Ontario government announced today that it will not fund the proposed WLU/Conestoga campus in Milton, the York University/Seneca College campus in Marham, or the Ryerson University/Sheridan College campus in Brampton. The previous government had pledged $90million toward the Milton campus, not sure about the other two.

[Denscity]

Nanaimo BC?

[casper]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Nanaimo BC?

Vancouver Island University (https://www.viu.ca/).

[isaidso]

Considering it used to be the 4th largest city in Canada I'm always surprised that Saint John, NB never developed its own universities. All they have is an offshoot of UNB that was founded in 1964.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Considering it used to be the 4th largest city in Canada I'm always surprised that Saint John, NB never developed its own universities. All they have is an offshoot of UNB that was founded in 1964.

SJ has always been hyper blue collar and working-class, so it makes sense that it wasn't a hive of finer education. UNBSJ provides a decent university outlet for the area. Saint John nearly lost UNBSJ in the late 2000s when it was recommended by a commission at the provincial level that the campus be transformed into a polytechnic institute and merged with the local community college, effectively wiping out its liberal arts and science degree programs. This move would have effectively made it a funnel for the Irving group of companies to find skilled trades students more easily.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ticle18145691/

Suffice to say, the changes never went ahead, despite local Irving media pressure supporting the change. The governing Liberals, for this reason among others, were decimated in the following provincial election for even considering the recommendations of replacing university campuses.

Today, UNBSJ is a pretty commuter-heavy campus, but steps have been made to place more offices and programs in Saint John's Uptown. Despite being outside the core it's in a pretty picturesque setting:


UNB

Newer offices Uptown:

Global

[MolsonExport]

Barrie, since they closed Laurentian's campus in that city a few years ago.

[rousseau]

A place like Stratford in the US would have had a university by 1850 already. Funny how this thread is about the largest cities without a university, when in the US the size of the city or town has never been much of a consideration when it comes to having wanted to establish a university in the 19th century.

[MolsonExport]

you will just have to settle for Peter Baldsbridge.

[Acajack]

Has anyone mentioned Fort McMurray (Wood Buffalo municipality)?

It has at least 100,000 (maybe 125,000) people living there.

Pretty sure they have a community college but that's a pretty big place to not have at least a small university.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by casper

Vancouver Island University (https://www.viu.ca/).

Oh ok wow never even heard of it.

[ssiguy]

VIU is like so many in BC..........basically a college that started offering a few degrees and hence meets the minimum standard of being a university. In reality, most are not university students heading towards a degree but more college students getting their diploma or certificate. This 'university' offers GED, carpentry, cook and beautician.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Barrie, since they closed Laurentian's campus in that city a few years ago.

That is correct according to Laurentian University:

Barrie is the largest census metropolitan area in Canada without a university campus. Link: https://laurentian.ca/barrie/

A few years ago I was surprised to see that Lakehead University has a campus in Orillia. Thunder Bay to Orillia is a long way. I only discovered it because it's across the road from the Costco in Orillia where I went shopping.

I really don't like how Northern Ontario universities try to push into Southern Ontario. They should consider Kenora for a Lakehead campus and Timmins for a Laurentian campus in my opinion.

[MolsonExport]

they are trying to tap into the gigantic and expanding market for tertiary education in the GTA. Very few will travel more than 200km for university studies. Half of Western (at least, and in some programd, 2/3) students are from the GTA. I can't blame 'em for trying, but I also agree that they should stick closer to home, to (better) serve those markets that still are under served.

For its size and history, Western (currently) has a paucity of satellite campuses, although it is worth noting that U Waterloo was once an outpost of Western U, as was U Windsor.

[CityTech]

Queen's is mostly GTA students as well.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

they are trying to tap into the gigantic and expanding market for tertiary education in the GTA. Very few will travel more than 200km for university studies. Half of Western (at least, and in some programd, 2/3) students are from the GTA. I can't blame 'em for trying, but I also agree that they should stick closer to home, to (better) serve those markets that still are under served.

For its size and history, Western (currently) has a paucity of satellite campuses, although it is worth noting that U Waterloo was once an outpost of Western U, as was U Windsor.

Yes, Assumption College, founded in Windsor in 1857, became affiliated with University of Western Ontario in 1919, and was granted university status in 1953, which then ended its affiliation the University of Western Ontario.

In 1962 the University of Windsor was established, and on July 1st, 1963 the entire campus and all of its facilities and faculty became known as the University of Windsor.

[Chadillaccc]

I think Red Deer is technically the largest city in the country without a university, at 106,000 people.

Though Red Deer College has requested to transition to a university, and will be chartered as Red Deer University this year or next. The institution currently has about 7,500 students.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

VIU is like so many in BC..........basically a college that started offering a few degrees and hence meets the minimum standard of being a university. In reality, most are not university students heading towards a degree but more college students getting their diploma or certificate. This 'university' offers GED, carpentry, cook and beautician.

Would Capilano University fall under that?

That would be the university for the District of North Vancouver.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by CityTech

Queen's is mostly GTA students as well.

From experience, as a percentage of total students I'd say Queen's leans even more heavily GTA than Western. When I went to Western I'd say a good 20-25% of the students were from the London area; quite a few of my high school classmates went there and I met others who came from other high schools in the city (as well as nearby areas such as Lucan or Strathroy). A few also came from Chatham-Kent and the Windsor area. Whereas the Kingston CMA is roughly 70% smaller than London, which gives Queen's far fewer local students to draw from. Anyone I've ever known who was from the Kingston area and went to postsecondary locally went to St. Lawrence College or Loyalist College in Belleville; anyone I've ever known who went to Queen's was from the GTA, Ottawa area, London, or were international students.

Something else I noticed about Western - pretty much all the students I met from the GTA were from the 905. I don't think I ever met anyone who actually grew up in the 416; the GTA students I knew were largely from Mississauga, Oakville, and York Region. Anyone I knew who grew up in Toronto tended to go to more local schools like U of T, York or Ryerson.

[flar]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

From experience, as a percentage of total students I'd say Queen's leans even more heavily GTA than Western. When I went to Western I'd say a good 20-25% of the students were from the London area; quite a few of my high school classmates went there and I met others who came from other high schools in the city (as well as nearby areas such as Lucan or Strathroy). A few also came from Chatham-Kent and the Windsor area. Whereas the Kingston CMA is roughly 70% smaller than London, which gives Queen's far fewer local students to draw from. Anyone I've ever known who was from the Kingston area and went to postsecondary locally went to St. Lawrence College or Loyalist College in Belleville; anyone I've ever known who went to Queen's was from the GTA, Ottawa area, London, or were international students.

Something else I noticed about Western - pretty much all the students I met from the GTA were from the 905. I don't think I ever met anyone who actually grew up in the 416; the GTA students I knew were largely from Mississauga, Oakville, and York Region. Anyone I knew who grew up in Toronto tended to go to more local schools like U of T, York or Ryerson.

When I was at Western in the 90s, every other student was from Markham.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by JHikka

SJ has always been hyper blue collar and working-class, so it makes sense that it wasn't a hive of finer education. UNBSJ provides a decent university outlet for the area. Saint John nearly lost UNBSJ in the late 2000s when it was recommended by a commission at the provincial level that the campus be transformed into a polytechnic institute and merged with the local community college, effectively wiping out its liberal arts and science degree programs. This move would have effectively made it a funnel for the Irving group of companies to find skilled trades students more easily.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ticle18145691/

Suffice to say, the changes never went ahead, despite local Irving media pressure supporting the change. The governing Liberals, for this reason among others, were decimated in the following provincial election for even considering the recommendations of replacing university campuses.

Today, UNBSJ is a pretty commuter-heavy campus, but steps have been made to place more offices and programs in Saint John's Uptown. Despite being outside the core it's in a pretty picturesque setting:


UNB

Newer offices Uptown:

Global

Makes sense but I'm still surprised based on how big Saint John was in 1900. Tiny specks like Wolfville, Antigonish, and Sackville (NB) produced a university yet Saint John couldn't. Hopefully, UNBSJ can grow into a fully independent institution.