Pearl Lorentzen
Local Journalism
Initiative Reporter
In the last five years, Northern Lakes College (NLC) has grown by 32 per cent, says president Glenn Mitchell.
In 2023-24, NLC had close to 2,000 full-time equivalent students. Full-time equivalent learners take five courses a term.
Of the students taking college courses for credit, over 300 were registered at the Slave Lake campuses, just about 100 at the Wabasca campus, 25 at the Loon River campus, 13 at Peerless Lake, and about 10 at Trout Lake.
On top of this, NLC had 5,000 students take continuing education or corporate training courses, such as safety tickets, land and environment training, asset management, etc.
The college had around 500 academic upgrading (adults taking Grade 6-10 courses) and foundational learning (adults taking courses with a level under Grade 6).
New courses
NLC started as Alberta Vocational College in 1970. At that time, it offered adult education such as high school courses for those who wanted to complete academic upgrading.
NLC now has 39 unique programs.
“Coming from AVC to 39 programs is pretty cool,” says Mitchell.
In the 2024-25 year, NLC started offering Class 1 Driver Training in Slave Lake.
“We were working on it for a little while,” says Mitchell.
Another new course is Child and Youth Care Diploma.
“We listened to our region,” he says about the reason for the two new courses.
About the Child and Youth Care course, the NLC website says, “This comprehensive program focuses on mental health, trauma-informed care, assessments, interventions, advocacy, and ethical practice.”
Like many NLC courses, the course is available for high school students to take using the dual credit program.
Last year, NLC added an Indigenous Office Administration micro-credential.
“That’s been very well received,” says Mitchell.
Mitchell describes a micro-credential as “a good place to start” if people aren’t sure about a course.
A micro-credential is three courses. A certificate is 10 courses, and a diploma is 20 courses. People who complete the micro-credential can continue with an office administration certificate.
Bachelor degrees
As a college, NLC does not offer four-year degrees. However, in partnership with the University of Calgary it offers the community-based bachelor of education.
“We’re hearing really good feedback from the industry,” says Mitchell, about the program.
Also, for many years, NLC has offered a social work diploma, which the University of Calgary accepts as the first two years of bachelor of social work, which can be done remotely with support from NLC. This allows students to “finish their degree at home without moving away,” says Mitchell.
In a similar vein, in 2023, NLC and Athabasca University entered into a partnership which allows graduates from NLC’s practical nurse program (two-year) to enter Athabasca University’s post-LPN bachelor of nursing program.
A practical nurse (often called a licensed practical nurse (LPN) or registered practical nurse (RPN) has two years of university. A registered nurse (RN) has a bachelor of nursing.
Students in the bachelor of nursing continue to be supported by NLC.
“That’s been fantastic,” says Mitchell.
“The college heard from the region,” says Mitchell, “and we know that we have a shortage of registered nurses.”
A partnership was the quickest way to make that bring RN training to the region, says Mitchell.
Supported-distance learning
NLC courses are offered through what it calls supported-distance learning.
“We’ve been doing distance learning since Northern Lake College started,” says Mitchell.
At first, distance learning was by phone, but now courses are taught online with students having the option to go to campuses in their community for various types of supports.
“We bring people together in the virtual classroom,” says Mitchell.
NLC students come from all over, but it has campuses across northwestern Alberta. The southernmost one is Fox Creek and the northernmost one is in Chateh in the Dene Tha First Nation west of High Level. This region covers 164,000 square km. In this area are various municipalities, 15 First Nations, and four Métis Settlements.
Students can take any course that does not have a practical component (driving a truck, nursing lab, trades, etc.) at any campus or at home.
“Campuses are kind of strategically placed in the region,” says Mitchell.
Campuses offer a quiet place to study, with good internet connections, and support from at least two staff members – a student learning assistant (SLA) and a campus instructor.
The campus instructors teach their courses online, but also provide in-person support to any student who is interested. This isn’t course-specific, as they might not have any students at their campus taking their course.
“It’s (the campus staff are) a point of contact,” says Mitchell. “They typically get to know the students at the campus.”
Students can also meet with an Indigenous Elder, faith-based support person, mental health, or other supports virtually or at campus.
“The model has changed a little bit,” says Mitchell.
“We don’t see as many students coming to campus as we used to,” he adds.
In the region covered by the Lakeside Leader and South Peace News, NLC has campuses in Slave Lake, Wabasca, Trout Lake, Peerless Lake, Loon River First Nation, Cadotte Lake, Peavine Métis Settlement, Cadotte Lake (Woodland Cree First Nation), Peace River, Gift Lake Métis Settlement, Grouard, High Prairie, and Driftpile Cree Nation.
NLC also has three community access points (CAP) in this area including Atikameg (Whitefish Lake First Nation), McLennan, and East Prairie Métis Settlement.
“We’re in kind of a housing crisis in Alberta,” says Mitchell. This makes travelling for school difficult.”
At times, NLC will advertise a class that requires a lab in a specific community, such as Wabasca, but if not enough people sign up it can’t be offered there.
“We see more student demand in Slave Lake,” says Mitchell, adding it makes it easier to offer the courses out of an office that have an in-person practical component – EMS/fire, car