25-05-2025
Algonquin College program cut hits most vulnerable students, advocates say
For parents like Meredith Vautour, one of the concerns of having a son with autism is what's going to happen to him when she is gone.
Her 18-year-old son, Alex, is in his second year of high school at Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School, enrolled in a general learning program focused on teaching functional academics and life skills.
The Academic Assistance For Adults With Developmental Disabilities (AAADD) at Algonquin College was a strong post-secondary option for him.
Or rather it was until Thursday morning, when the college said it was 'phasing out' its adult special-needs program.
'The program … that we're losing is exactly a program that he suddenly saw a place for him that he could go on and continue to learn,' Vautour said, getting teary. 'It opened a whole other world to him where he thought he could continue to go and find a place to learn and get a job.'
Throughout Alex's life, Vautour said, they have constantly fought for his education to find the 'right avenues' for him. The AAADD cut is another obstacle after the absence of a disabilities ministry in Prime Minister Mark Carney's federal cabinet and the special-education cuts by the provincial government of Premier Doug Ford.
'It feels like every level is coming at these kids,' Vautour said. 'Every parent in the world wants their kid to be prepared for adulthood and be part of society.
'With a child with a disability, our futures look different.'
Since 1997, AAADD has offered adults with developmental disabilities the chance to build their academic and social skills within a safe environment.
It runs 40 weeks per year from the end of August to the end of June.
Pauline Beevor's son, Derek, graduated from AAADD in June 2023. She says the program has been 'extremely positive.'
'I found that being in the program … made him feel like he was truly part of the college,' Beevor said. 'The teachers were very supportive, (and) the teaching they did was obviously very helpful because he did struggle.'
Derek, 27, now works at Canada Bread and Beevor gives a lot of credit to the AAADD program because of the community skills he developed throughout his time at Algonquin College.
'I can't fathom the idea of the (college) not knowing what it's going to do to these young people that want to succeed, like Derek,' Beevor said. 'It just saddens me.
'This program really, really helped Derek.'
Derek said the AAADD program was important because it made access to learning easier for people with disabilities. When he learned the news about the program's demise, he said it was 'unacceptable' to him.
'The program was really good. I'm pretty upset at them shutting down the program,' Derek said. 'How can people with special needs (access) college?'
Kate Dudley-Logue, vice-president of community outreach for the Ontario Autism Coalition, says losing programming like AAADD narrows opportunities for adults and children with disabilities.
Parents hope their kids will develop the skills they need to reach their full potential in life, but for parents of children with disabilities it's already difficult to find day programs and support, Dudley-Logue said.
'You would think, where we're at in the world right now, more programs would be offered and more supports would be in place for our vulnerable people in the community,' she said. 'It just seems like we're moving in the opposite direction.'
When cuts have to be made at colleges, Dudley-Logue says it's frustrating that vulnerable communities face more cuts than other members of the population.
'It's just very frustrating that, more often than not, when cuts have to be put in place, it's people with disabilities that end up bearing the brunt of the cuts,' she said.
In an email statement, Algonquin College said the decision to cut AAADD was made in an effort to focus on 'credentialed programs' as approved by the Ministry of College and Universities, Research Excellence and Security.
The AAADD is a non-ministry program that offers a certificate, but doesn't lead to a 'formal credential,' the statement said, adding the decision also came after 'substantial fiscal challenges,' including a shift in federal immigration policy and a provincial post-secondary tuition freeze.
'There have been no new students accepted into the program for three years,' the statement read. 'New students will not be accepted moving forward.'
The current program will end on April 30, 2026, allowing 73 students currently enrolled to finish their studies.
Martin Lee, second vice-president of OPSEU Local 415, said this was another round of 'disappointing cuts' by the college, especially since it would affect a vulnerable student population.
In April, Algonquin announced it was cancelling academic upgrading courses that helped students complete missing credits in order to begin new courses of study. The college is facing a $60-million budget deficit, expected to rise to $93 million in the following year.
Lee said colleges were there to support the needs of the communities that they served, not to 'make a surplus or a loss.'
'It appears that the college is aiming for those who are most vulnerable first,' he said. 'If the college truly believes that it is about caring, learning, integrity, respect, then it needs to look at that caring piece first.'
While the program is not affiliated with the union, Lee said the union local's offices were located right beside the AAADD department, allowing him to see how much the students benefited and required daily assistance from the program.
'The college cutting the service off is going to put a strain on the community,' he said. 'It's going to put a strain on the families whom these learners belong to.'
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