NorQuest College updates council on the Health Care Aide program

ECA Review/Submitted

Dean Jennifer Mah and Academic Program Manager Anusha Udawatta from NorQuest College spoke to the Forestburg village council about the Health Care Aide program at their June 1 regular council meeting.

The program would be composed of different parts: online portions, labs, and clinical placements in person. The college would try to put the student in or close to their community for the clinical placement.

Udawatta explained the price of the course and the funding that may be available to the students enrolled in the class. The funding is through the Alberta Health Care Aide bursary.

“It is a first come, first serve basis, and they do have to apply soon. They will be competing with other students, but there are still funds left in the pot,”

“There is a return of services agreement,” said Udawatta. “It’s two years of working. So within two years, they have to accumulate 2000 hours of work as a Health Care Aide; it has to be with particular continuing care operators.

The council decided to go forward with marketing for the course.

Addressing housing needs

During their last meeting, the Village of Forestburg discussed proposed policy H.6.3 – Community Housing Incentive Program.

The purpose of this program is to provide various housing options to meet Forestburg’s current and future needs.

It aims to facilitate community growth by allowing builders and renovators to collaborate with the municipality.

“We will have to be flexible. I don’t think we’re going to know until we’ve been through this, you know, all the things that could come at us from different directions and the new ideas and a better way of doing things and all that,” said Mayor Blaise Young. “This is a wonderful guide but we can’t tie ourselves to this. We’re going to have to be flexible when certain things happen.”

The program defines “builder and renovator” as an individual or corporate entity that meets all legislative and regulatory conditions for property building or renovation in the province of Alberta.

The program follows a set of procedures to ensure effective implementation. Firstly, interested builders or renovators must express their interest in participating in the Forestburg Housing Incentive Program by submitting a proposal to the Village Council. This proposal should include details such as estimated financial costs, construction timelines, and the specific elements requested from the village under the program’s policy.

Village council will review and approve all applications or provide suggested changes and negotiation parameters to the applicants.

Once mutual agreement is reached on the application’s terms, both parties will draft and sign a legal instrument before commencing any projects.

The program also specifies that current residents and businesses may be eligible to receive the Community Housing Incentive for each separate family or business relocating to Forestburg.

Program requests will be thoroughly reviewed and approved by council, and any changes to ongoing program approvals will require council’s approval.

The draft policy is open for council input, and further details will be finalized based on the feedback received.

Article published by East Central Alberta Review