For Sudburian Morgan Barry, leaving Laurentian University was extremely painful, and she is still struggling to recover. Like her, hundreds of students at the northern Ontario facility have left the region over the past year due to the abrupt elimination of nearly 70 programs at Laurentian University.
“It was like a bad breakup,” says the Sudburoise, who is now studying at Carleton University in Ottawa. The announcement of the University, the 1er February 2021, signaling its intention to seek creditor shelter caused a stir in the Sudbury community, but it wasn’t until April that students learned of their program’s permanent closure.
“They decided to make the announcement just before the exams. I was in such bad shape, mentally and emotionally, that I had to quit two exams,” recalls Danielle Drescher, now a student in the Italian program at the University of Toronto at Mississauga (UTM). “I had such a good relationship with a lot of my teachers. I experienced a mourning by losing them, ”explains Morgan Barry. For students, the unplanned change of university meant an increase in the cost of living, higher tuition fees, isolation and the loss of professors with whom they had developed a bond.
After a period of reflection of only a few weeks, the students had to choose a new establishment, then left to the four corners of Ontario. Danielle Drescher and eight other students enrolled at one of three University of Toronto campuses. Sixty-five students chose Ryerson University and another thirty-three began the fall semester at Trent University in Peterborough. Thirty have been studying since September at Brock University in St. Catharines, and eight others at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa. Institutions say they cannot directly associate Laurentian’s large number of departures with the cuts, but the volume of transfers is higher than in years past, found The duty. In some universities, the number of transfers has quadrupled or quintupled since last year.
Unique community
Many students who have left Laurentian say they have lost a unique community. “I lived in residence and I had so much fun,” recalls Lexey Burns, who is now studying at UTM. “I know performance is very important at the University of Toronto, but why get good grades if you’re not also having a good time? adds the one who grew up in southern Ontario.
At Laurentian, the professors gave their phone number to the students, underline the latter. Isabelle Heavener, a student from Cochrane, 400 kilometers north of Sudbury, called them by their first names. She’s not doing it at the University of Windsor, where she’s been enrolled since the fall, even though she’s on her home stretch in the environmental science program. “Everything is new even though I’m in fifth grade,” she says.
I had such a good relationship with a lot of my teachers. I mourned losing them.
By losing this closeness to her teachers, Danielle Drescher also lost her momentum. “I was a much better student at Laurentian,” she admits. At the University of Toronto, I put so much pressure on myself that I fall behind other students. Morgan Barry, for her part, has to take courses she has already taken because her credits have not been recognized, she says. Nothing to help his motivation. “I lose points for my lack of attendance in class, but I have good grades in the work since I have already taken the courses,” she says.
Financial loss
Morgan Barry worked hard to be able to study at Carleton University. The additional admission fees alone amounted to approximately $520, affordable housing is more difficult to find in Ottawa, and prior to her arrival she was unsure whether she would be able to obtain financial support from the Ontario Pension Plan. Ontario Student Financial Assistance (OSAP), which she received at Laurentian. “I had two full-time jobs in Sudbury to save for Carleton,” she says.
Danielle Drescher’s OSAP financial aid was cut in half when she started studying at the University of Toronto, but her tuition nearly doubled. The cost of living is also higher and she has to repeat three classes, including the two for which she was unable to take the exams. “The University of Toronto offered me to study one more year to take these courses, but I could not afford it financially, and it would have delayed my graduation,” explains the student.
The departure of students like Danielle Drescher and Lexey Burns is a missed opportunity for the North, where retention of students after graduation is a concern, according to Neil Milner, chairman of the board of trustees. the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce. Lexey Burns was planning to buy a house in Sudbury when she lived there, but she is unsure if she will return to the North. Morgan Barry, who had never imagined leaving the region, was surprised to like Ottawa very much.
The demographic weight of the North within Ontario has been declining year after year since 1986. Some areas of the region are experiencing negative net migration, “mainly of young adults,” notes the provincial government on its website. Still, Neil Milner believes Laurentian will continue to attract people to Sudbury. “I can’t wait to see Laurentian return to its former glory,” he says.
This report is supported by theLocal Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.