Could an English university work in Timmins?

A study is underway on what it would take to bring an English-speaking university to the Timmins area.

Dr. Ken Coates—who has been tasked by the Northern Policy Institute to complete the study—says this has nothing to do with what people in power simply want.

“This is not a study that will report to the world what the Mayor might want, what council might want, what city staff might want, but actually what makes sense,” he told Timmins city council Monday night.

“What makes sense economically, what makes sense politically, what makes sense educationally.”

He says one of the biggest things is to have a sustainability model in place.

“You can build a university tomorrow if you want to borrow $200-million dollars and build something and hope something happens.  But if you don’t have a sustainability model that will attract students in the long run, who will pay the right fees and cover the right costs, you’ve actually done something that will hurt your community more than it will support it.”

The program mix is key too.  Many questions are still lingering.

Coates cites a couple examples throughout his presentation—which you can view in full HERE under Item 3B—on where universities have thrived and others have unfortunately failed (here’s looking at you Nelson, BC).

The study will take roughly a month to complete.  No word on when the findings will come back or made public.