Portage College is suspending its Heavy Equipment Operator (HEO) program and the Professional Cook Certificate programs for the 2025-26 academic year.

Both programs experienced challenges in the past few years, but despite these, the College continued to deliver the programs. However, with the College facing a deficit budget in 2026-27, the decision was made to move forward with suspensions of the two programs.

“Deciding to cancel programs is never easy,” says President and CEO of Portage College Nancy Broadbent. “The decision is in the best interest of the College’s overall operations, but it is still difficult, as we know it will negatively impact future students, employees and communities.”

The HEO program has been offered at the Boyle campus since 2017. The program trained students in a hands-on environment through professional instruction about operation, maintenance and safety working with heavy equipment in commercial and industrial settings. Despite a re-design of the program in 2021, its high-quality instruction, and best efforts to increase student enrolment while decreasing costs, the difficult decision to close the program had to be made.

The Professional Cooking Certificate has been offered at the St. Paul Campus as year one of the Culinary Arts Diploma since 2021. While students have thoroughly enjoyed the high-quality program, it lacks alignment with regional labour needs. The regional demand for roles such as catering, line cook, camp cook, hospitality, and food independence-focused training are being examined for future program offerings.

While the programs have been suspended, Portage College officials will be exploring new programming opportunities for the Boyle campus location and the retooling of the Professional Cooking Certificate program.

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Jaime Davies
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