If proposed provincial legislation is passed, Université de Hearst could become an independent post-secondary institution.
The Ontario government has introduced legislation to establish Université de Hearst and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) as independent, standalone degree-granting institutions, according to today’s news release.
As affiliated post-secondary institutions, they already operate "largely independently" and receive funding directly from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, according to the news release.
If the legislation is passed, each school will have independent governance and administration, an ability to grant their own degrees and expand and offer more programs in new communities across Northern Ontario, reads the release.
“Hearst will become Ontario's second stand-alone French language university, joining the Université de l'Ontario français,” Ross Romano, minister of colleges and universities, said in a statement. “NOSM will become more agile and nimble to the changing needs of students as they help tackle the need for doctors and other health human resources in Northern Ontario."
Founded in 1953, Université de Hearst has been an affiliate of Laurentian University since 1963. In 2020-21, it had about 160 full-time students enrolled at its three campuses in Hearst, Timmins and Kapuskasing.
NOSM opened in 2005 and is currently a not-for-profit corporation of Lakehead University and Laurentian University. In 2020-21, it had almost 460 full-time students enrolled at its two campuses in Thunder Bay and Sudbury.
