Centennial College values and embraces diversity, equity and inclusion as fundamental to our mission to educate students for career success, and we proudly endorse the Government of Canada’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Canada Charter.
We are pleased to announce that Centennial is among 12 post-secondary institutions across Canada receiving a two-year federal grant to support the federal government’s commitment to tackling challenges encountered by underrepresented and/or disadvantaged groups in Canadian research institutions, including colleges and universities. The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Institutional Capacity-Building Grant was launched as a pilot program in 2019 to support institutions as they adapt and implement organizational and systemic change. Centennial is part of the second wave of recipient institutions sharing $4.8 million.
This award will be allocated to projects and ideas that address systemic barriers that impede the career advancement, recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups. The funds will be utilized by Centennial to establish sustainable EDI strategies through intensive senior leadership training, bring together stakeholders to guide strategic planning and collaboratively author an EDI Strategic Action Plan, and collect benchmarking data to measure the success of these initiatives.
“The EDI grant will augment the work already underway by many College stakeholders to embed evidenced-based best practices of EDI within the institution,” notes Jonathan Hack, Executive Director of Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Services at Centennial. “This successful application would not have been possible without the very significant and long-term commitment that Centennial has to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and the incredible work that has been done across the College over the past decade. It’s in recognition of that work, the commitment of the College as a whole, and our ambitious workplan, that we received the NSERC grant.”
“Centennial is one of the most culturally diverse postsecondary institutions in Canada, and we are proud to be a sector leader in creating accessible, empowering learning opportunities grounded in the values of equity and inclusion,” says Dr. Craig Stephenson, President and CEO, Centennial College. “As part of our commitment to challenging institutionalized racism and discrimination in all its forms, we take meaningful steps towards addressing bias and building a safe learning, living and working environment for all. This NSERC grant will enable us to deepen our work in this area, tailoring sustainable strategic equity initiatives and resources for the benefit of our students and the communities we so proudly serve.”
Centennial College has been working toward EDI for a decade. We are now making EDI even more central to our institutional plans, beginning with introducing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion into our senior leadership structure and giving them the tools to reshape Centennial's policies and procedures in service to EDI outcomes.
Centennial has been awarded $400,000 for two years. These funds will be utilized for:
- Building sustainable EDI institutional strategies through intensive senior leadership training on making EDI initiatives in higher education impactful.
- Collecting benchmarking data to measure the success of future initiatives.
- Building a team of committed stakeholders to guide strategic planning in the first two years.
- Collaboratively generating an EDI Strategic Action Plan (SAP) for implementation.
View Centennial College’s signed endorsement of the Dimensions Charter.
For more information, please contact aries@centennialcollege.ca.