ALGONQUIN COLLEGE

Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is a publicly funded English-language college located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with additional campuses in Perth and Pembroke, Ontario. The college offers a diverse range of educational programs, including bachelor’s degrees, diplomas, and certificates, across various disciplines and specialties. Algonquin College serves the National Capital Region and the surrounding areas of Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and Upstate New York. It has earned recognition as one of Canada’s top innovation leaders and is among the Top 50 Research Colleges in Canada. Algonquin College is also a member of Polytechnics Canada.

Algonquin College was established in 1967 as part of the creation of Ontario’s college system, with the enabling legislation being the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act. The founding institutions that contributed to its formation were the Eastern Ontario Institute of Technology, established in 1957, and the Ontario Vocational Centre Ottawa, founded in 1965 at the Woodroffe Campus and known as OVC. The original 8-acre site on Woodroffe Avenue was generously donated to the city by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ryan.

The college’s architecture, designed by the Ottawa firm Burgess, McLean & MacPhadyen, reflects midcentury modernism. It features open-ended blocks with alternating long glass expanses in a semi-gambrel formation for the curtain walls and precast aggregate panels. The campus has a corporate campus or modernist academic acropolis style that was popular in North America during the early 1960s. The entrance is characterized by a deeply recessed terrace with overhanging small white ceramic tiles and vintage can lights. The long walls of the campus buildings are bumped out to create a floating effect over the foundation, and foundation plantings soften the overall appearance.

The Ontario Vocational Centre (OVC) was initially led by its first Principal, Kenneth G. Shoultz, who assumed the position in 1965. Prior to this role, Shoultz had worked as a technical studies teacher and as an inspector for the Ontario Department of Education. After the amalgamation of OVC with Algonquin College in 1967, K.G. Shoultz continued to serve as the first Dean of the Technical Centre.

Algonquin College derives its name from the Algonquin First Nations Peoples, who were the original inhabitants of the region where the college is situated.