Editor's Note: This story previously appeared on StratfordToday.ca.
Now that Conestoga College has made it official that Stratford’s new campus will be located at 60 Erie Street as of September 2025, future students can start planning their academic careers from a wide variety of options.
The new facility – approximately 22,000 square feet in total with a capacity to house 800 students – will offer business, media foundations, general arts and sciences and personal support worker programs to name a few. It’s that last one that has more than a few people paying attention a little closer.
Dan Wildfong was in attendance for the announcement and was pleased to see that a dedicated PSW teaching lab was included in the plans for the first wave of development for 60 Erie Street. He said it’s an area that remains an issue in the delivery of health services and with the growing interest in home care it’s not likely to diminish soon. Wildfong, the manager of strategic initiatives for ONE CARE Home and Community Support Services, said the preference to age in place in one’s own home is driving up the need for greater numbers of PSWs.
“We are so happy to hear that this is going to be a big part of Conestoga’s plans here in Stratford, having a state-of-the-art facility here to train PSWs and health office administrators in ways that allow them to use situation-based learning that’s embedded in the curriculum,” he said. “It will give them real-world experiences before they actually hit the ground, and that will help to support their longevity and their success while allowing them to thrive in the field. It’s exciting for me and for us to see this.”
With Conestoga’s long history of teaching health-centric education in Stratford, Wildfong hopes that ONE CARE can be one of many who partner with the college as the next generations of health care professionals learn and move into the work force.
“Some of our leadership team sits on what are called program advisory committees with the college, and each program has one,” he said. “Our director of client services sits on the committee for the PSW program, and that allows her the opportunity to say what we’re experiencing in the field, to identify what needs are emerging and evolving, and what gaps we might be seeing in graduates and how their capabilities could be strengthened to best serve our clients.”
That the college is putting this kind of emphasis on health care learning is music to the ears of Michelle Heyer, who is a member of Conestoga’s School of Health & Life Sciences. Building on the school’s history with the city is one thing, but being able to provide high-level education locally is something that has Heyer excited.
“Stratford has always been a big part of the Conestoga community, and we recognize that the population is aging so we want to give students an opportunity here to get their education, remove barriers for travel but also feed the workforce here,” she said. “That will help support the local hospital, home care, long-term care and retirement homes with personal support workers. We’ve run health care programs in Stratford for years and I think a big piece of Conestoga us that applied learning and supporting the workforce.”
As the college transitions to their new home, they’ll be departing 130 Youngs Street where they’ve called home since arriving in Stratford in 1973. Andrew Williams, the president and chief executive officer for the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance (HPHA) might be disappointed they’re losing a tenant but he’s looking forward to continuing a relationship with the college as they grow and bring in a new generation of health care professionals.
“We’ve talked with them about a couple of programs that are very focused on health, and we’re looking at it from the point of view of how we can support the kids that are in the program,” he said. “We want to connect them with resources that we may have, and we want to obviously identify local kids who want to stay local and be part of that partnership with Conestoga, which is going to help that. They’ve been a wonderful tenant and have helped grow a local workforce for us, so this expansion opportunity is really win-win.”
Heyer said she’s not sure of how many students will fill the health care classes in Stratford but her department is eager to get to work.
“We’re ready to get going,” she said. “We’re out marketing it now and trying to increase that class size because we think we can make a huge difference here and support our local partners and the community.”