Young people from the West Shore live so far from the University of Victoria and Camosun College that some of them move into residence to avoid the commute. A new study is looking at whether they need their own campus.
The province is putting $250,000 into a study by Royal Roads University, UVic, Camosun and the Sooke school district; it will look into the feasibility of the idea.
In the 2016 census, 18 per cent of Langford residents and 17 per cent of Colwood residents were 14 or under, compared to 9.2 per cent for the city of Victoria. Those children will soon be pushing up into high school and post-secondary education.
The Victoria Census Metropolitan Area had 367,770 people, according to the 2016 census. Is that population sufficient to support a fourth post-secondary institution? Perhaps not.
But it would make sense to put a facility of some kind closer to the communities with the fastest-growing and youngest populations.
A full-scale college is probably not feasible or required. However, a joint venture by the three institutions and the school district could allow what Royal Roads president Allan Cahoon called a “ladder” to get students started before they move on to college or one of the universities to finish a degree or diploma.
The school could be designed and located so it could expand if population growth required it.
The study has a lot of questions to answer, but the concept is worth investigating. It might even ease the Colwood Crawl.
