RRC Polytech is once again a top research institution in the country, earning the 14th spot in Re$earch Infosource’s annual ranking of Canada’s top 50 research colleges, released last week.

“RRC Polytech makes innovation possible for our partners in industry and community — and every successful project builds trust in our technology, facilities and expertise,” says Jamie Wilson, the College’s Vice-President, Indigenous Strategy, Research and Business Development.

“Today’s rankings reflect the College’s growing reputation for consistency and productivity, which is driven by the work of our Research Partnerships & Innovation enterprise and at our three Technology Access Centres.

“They also reinforce that our approach of strengthening relationships with partners and funders across all sectors, driving alignment between stakeholders and valuing sustainability is accelerating applied research innovation here in Manitoba.”

In the 2022 fiscal year, RRC Polytech completed 170 applied research projects via 117 research partnerships — almost 60 more than the previous year — ranking it third in the Medium Tier category and fourth nationwide.

By maintaining its average of $7.4 million for a second consecutive year, Manitoba’s polytechnic also remains on par with the per-college provincial average of sponsored research income in Alberta, and only slightly behind Ontario’s.

As an added feature to its annual publication, Canada’s Innovation Leaders 2023, Re$earch Infosource also shines a spotlight on college-industry research income as measured by grants, contracts or contributions received from industry sources over the past five years, where RRC Polytech again showed a remarkably consistent annual average of just over $7 million from 2018-2022. Read More →

RRC Polytech has become the first post-secondary in Manitoba to the sign the SDG Accord, committing to embed the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its education, research, leadership, operations, administration and engagement activities.

The 17 SDGs represent an ambitious call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. They align with the values in RRC Polytech’s strategic plan and directly support the College’s commitments.

“Our primary objective is training the workforce of today and tomorrow, so we are uniquely positioned to lead transformative change and build a more sustainable future — and the SDGs are a valuable tool to help us focus our efforts,” says RRC Polytech President Fred Meier.

“Sustainability is a journey without a final destination, so we’re prepared and excited to build on the current initiatives led by our Environmental Stewardship and Campus Renewal team and broaden our approach to include research, academics and all areas of College operations.”

The SDGs are a global blueprint for all people around the world to improve health and education, reduce inequality, spur economic growth and tackle climate change. They aim to achieve peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. While each goal has its own separate objective, they are indivisibly linked and interdependent.

“We can’t have good health and well-being without clean water, and we can’t have sustainable, inclusive communities without reducing inequality,” says Sustainability Specialist Stephanie Fulford. “So while the goals are ambitious, they reflect the scope of our global challenges, give us real targets to strive toward and a pathway to achieve them.”

“We also recognize that to achieve these goals will require all of us, in every sector of society, to work together — which is why formally signing the accord is so important.” Read More →

Red River College Polytechnic’s Board of Governors (BOG) has announced its unanimous decision to extend the contract of President and CEO Fred Meier until July 2028.

“President Meier has surpassed the Board’s expectations in all he has accomplished since joining RRC Polytech,” says board Chair Loren Cisyk. “Extending his contract today ensures we will continue to build for the future with his strong, visionary leadership in place. We share our complete confidence in Mr. Meier’s ability to lead RRC Polytech forward as it strives to meet and exceed the needs of students and staff, as well as our partners in industry and the community.”

Since joining RRC Polytech in July 2020, Meier has been integral in charting a bold new path for the College. This includes rebranding the College to RRC Polytech, embracing its identity as Manitoba’s polytechnic, and creating its Strategic Plan 2022-2026: In Front of What’s Ahead.

This ambitious plan commits RRC Polytech to transform its learning models to amplify its impact across Manitoba, cements the College’s commitment towards Truth and Reconciliation and the pursuit of equity, diversity and inclusion in everything it does, and focuses its efforts on deepening partnerships to maximize prosperity across industry and community.

Through Meier’s leadership, RRC Polytech has taken many necessary and meaningful steps towards advancing the goals of the strategic plan, including a 98 per cent completion rate of RRC Polytech’s Comprehensive Campaign, In Front of What’s Ahead.

Thanks to the support of generous donors and industry partners, gifts are making a direct impact for today’s learners and will allow the College to create more supports and programs to help future students achieve success — from new and increased scholarships and bursaries, to the donation of computers, the launch of a new mentorship program for Indigenous learners, and the opening of the Centre for Newcomer Integration and the Price Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics. Read More →

As Manitoba continues to grow, there’s no question that the demand for skilled tradespeople is as high as its ever been.

According to the province’s labour gap statistics, trades such as automotive service technicians, carpenters, electricians and construction labourers are some of the most in-need career paths over the next five years.

Trades, though, can be a male-dominated space. According to a 2020 study by BuildForce Canada, just five per cent of the 1.1 million trades people in Canada identify as female. While this is a significant increase from where the industry was 10 years ago (3.7 per cent in 2008), it shows just how important equal representation and creating space is when it comes to young women entering trades.

Enter the Girls Exploring Trades and Technology camp, or GETT. Started by RRC Polytech in 1999, GETT is a summer camp at the College’s Notre Dame Campus where instructors and staff help introduce young girls aged 12 to 14 to a variety of trades — free of charge.

“The girls get exposure to a whole lot of different non-traditional career options for them,” says Christina Lambert, who has been running the camps since 2006.

In a whirlwind four days, camp participants are introduced to plumbing, woodworking, cabinetmaking, welding, robotics, transportation, bricklaying, and more. At the end of their camp experience, each participant brings home a project made using experience earned in the camp: a desk lamp built with iron pipe. Read More →

A virtual connection between a patient and doctor sounds simple in concept. In execution, though, it’s a challenge from both medical and technological perspectives.

In Manitoba, that’s where QDoc comes in. The local startup has created a solution that’s taken off in the mainstream since its launch last year. And with software development help from RRC Polytech students along the way, co-founders Dr. Norman Silver and David Berkowits believe they have a service that is not only winning awards now, but is also set for rapid expansion in the near future.

Launched in May 2022, QDoc is an online application that connects patients to doctors in real-time. Thanks to a custom algorithm, patients can log in and request to see a doctor. QDoc then sends a message to doctors informing them that a patient is there to be seen, and the two can meet in an encrypted online appointment at a time that fits within both schedules.

Today, 90 doctors across several specialties are on QDoc, including general practitioners, emergency doctors, pediatricians, obstetricians and ophthalmologists. Silver says that annualized, QDoc is set to see 50,000 patients use their system in Manitoba alone in 2023.

“We’ve had great feedback,” he says. “From the individual patient side, it’s unbelievable to have access like that.

“Patients who may have had to drive hours to see a doctor, with QDoc that really isn’t necessary. Doctors can talk through things that are maybe more labour-intensive where the patient may otherwise need to go in, but all factors considered — could be a snowstorm, could be the middle of the night, could be a young kid in the equation — that kind of stuff, it’s much better to try something at home first.” Read More →

Tattoo and multimedia artist Shayre Curé says her art is often specifically created for the enjoyment of clients and customers, whether it’s displayed in their houses or on their skin.

This year, Curé partnered with RRC Polytech to create an original Red Shirt design to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit People (MMIWG2S) and to support the Mínwastánikéwin Truth and Reconciliation Award for Indigenous students.

“As a Métis artist, my goal is to create art that brings awareness to this important issue,” says Curé. “I want my art to not only reflect cultural heritage, but to inspire future generations to continue the fight for justice, equality, and empowerment.”

The new design portrays a woman with the emblematic handprint over her mouth representing the “No More Stolen Sisters” movement, which was launched to express the outrage and grief over the loss of so many women, girls and Two Spirit people that — in many cases — could have been prevented. Curé worked in collaboration with a committee of Indigenous staff at the College to come up with the concept.

Her relationship with RRC Polytech first began earlier this year, when the Indigenous Student Support Centre purchased a piece from her entitled “The Silent Genocide on Turtle Island.” Read More →

RRC Polytech has partnered with Graphic Design graduate Leticia Spence — an Ininew artist and entrepreneur from Pimicikamak in Treaty 5 Territory — to create an original design for Orange Shirt Day and Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is tomorrow, Sept. 30.

“Orange Shirt Day: Every Child Matters is a solemn day where we recognize and honour residential school survivors and those who never made it back to their families,” says Carla Kematch, Director, Truth and Reconciliation and Community Engagement at RRC Polytech.

“It’s a day where we take action and raise awareness of the efforts that Indigenous communities and advocates make to find Indigenous children and bring them home. The world needs to know what happened at residential schools and why this work is important. Expressing our message through Indigenous art, teachings and symbolism is how we can heal.

“We’re so honoured to have worked with artist and alumna Leticia Spence. She shared her knowledge and skill to help convey this message of justice and created such a striking and meaningful representation of Every Child Matters.”

Spence graduated from the College in 2019 and has done work for Indigenous Tourism of Canada, the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, among many other organizations. She created the new Orange Shirt design in consultation with a committee of Indigenous staff members at RRC Polytech.

Spence’s design is intricate and intentional. As with the beadwork she observed family members creating while she was growing up, she wanted to ensure that the Orange Shirt design incorporated the intended energy represented by the Every Child Matters movement.

“I want whoever is wearing this t-shirt to feel a sense of hope and strength as they honour those who are currently being found, while also knowing that it’s okay to create space to honour themselves, as either direct residential school survivors or intergenerational survivors,” says Spence. Read More →

RRC Polytech is hosting its fifth annual Truth and Reconciliation Week to mark the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, on Sat., Sept. 30.

The week begins Monday, Sept. 25, with the Fall Equinox celebration at Manitou a bi Bii daziigae, and will span over two weeks of student-, staff- and community-led sessions aimed at educating participants about the many different facets and responsibilities of Truth and Reconciliation.

“When RRC Polytech held its first Truth and Reconciliation Week five years ago, two people were leading the charge,” says Jamie Wilson, Vice-President, Indigenous Strategy, Business Development and Research.

“Today, Truth and Reconciliation Week is supported by almost 90 volunteers across all campuses, allowing the College community to come together to learn from and engage with Indigenous People.”

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada calls on post-secondary institutions to create a more equitable and inclusive society by closing gaps in social, health and economic outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities and people.

RRC Polytech’s second strategic commitment is to “commit to Truth and Reconciliation, and pursue equity, diversity and inclusion in everything we do.”

Truth and Reconciliation is not just about providing equal opportunities to Indigenous learners — it is also about educating the publics RRC Polytech serves of the true histories that have often been neglected by western textbooks and reconciling potential dissonance with facts as related by Indigenous scholars, historians and Knowledge Keepers. Read More →

The tattoo on the back of Leon Mann’s hand says Rasva-apina, the Finnish translation for a term sometimes used to describe a mechanic. The tattoo is a permanent tribute to a four-week trip he took to Finland earlier this year as part of RRC Polytech’s Outbound Student Mobility pilot project.

The project aims to help students — especially those from under-represented groups — strengthen their global skills and competencies, boost their career capacity, expand their professional network and ultimately enrich Manitoba’s economic and social prosperity.

It’s already put Mann, an automotive student with roots in Lake Manitoba First Nation, on a path he would never have thought possible a short time ago. He almost didn’t fill out the program application.

“I was feeling stuck in place and thought, ‘You can’t do that, you can’t achieve that, it’s too prestigious.’ But one of my instructors pushed me, so I applied. Now, I still can’t believe I was there.”

Mann traveled to Finland in February with almost a dozen other RRC Polytech automotive students and instructors. The trip counted towards their program’s work experience requirement and exposed them to on-site training and cultural exploration.

Outbound Student Mobility launched in 2019 thanks to funding from Global Skills Opportunity (GSO), an Employment and Social Development Canada initiative jointly administered by Colleges and Institutes Canada and Universities Canada (CICan).

“Study and work abroad programs are invaluable learning experiences that ensure students are culturally literate, resilient, adaptable and ready to succeed in an increasingly globalized world,” says CICan President Denise Amyot.

A recent CICan report shows 2,556 students Canada-wide have participated in the program. Three quarters of participants identified themselves as members of underrepresented groups — Indigenous students, low-income students and students with disabilities — who would not have had the opportunity to study abroad if it wasn’t for this project. Read More →

The art of RRC Polytech grad Leticia Spence is featured in media across Canada and the globe; closer to home, you’ve likely seen it worn proudly by fans and players at Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose games.

For her latest work, Spence — a Graphic Design grad from 2019 — partnered with the College to create this year’s Orange Shirt Day illustration in support of Truth and Reconciliation and the Every Child Matters movement.

Spence’s concept for the shirt came through collaboration with Indigenous staff members at the College, who felt her design provided a beautiful and harmonious representation of all Indigenous Nations.

She grounded the design in Cree floral beadwork and integrated symbols from the Inuit and Métis Nations: fireweed flowers, wild roses, rosebuds and berries. The focus on nature represents the Peoples’ roots in the land, Spence says, while the foundational beadwork carries energy and transfers the art’s intention spiritually.

“I want whoever is wearing this t-shirt to feel a sense of hope and strength as they honour those who are currently being found while knowing that it’s okay to create space to honour themselves as either direct residential school survivors or intergenerational residential school survivors,” says Spence in an artist’s statement that will accompany each shirt sold.

“In difficult times, hope is the one thing we can grasp onto — not only to survive, but to drive us to fight for a world in which we no longer have to cry out for justice, and to reinforce that we deserve to exist.” Read More →