It is a unique situation that we often face, where misconceptions about our sector are carried into some of these other broader conversations. We saw it in the international student crisis a couple of years ago, where we actually had only 4.4% of the international students. If you read a newspaper article in the first few weeks, you would have sworn we were the entire problem.
I'd like to go back to the dental hygienist programs and the nine colleges that are teaching students to graduate into those professions. That is at a regulated career college that has been approved by the province that regulates them. The program approval often has a requirement that they prove there's a job opportunity for those graduates before they can start the program. They've gone through third party accreditation before they can even train those students.
Using a broad brush about our sector.... It's very challenging for us. We push back when we see those kinds of statements. We're very supportive of the other levels of post-secondary education and the challenges they're facing now, but to make these changes in the way they are being made now without equating it back to student choice and allowing the student to choose the institution that fits their need...we're troubled by that.