City of Lethbridge and local post-secondaries discuss how to keep graduates in the city

About 15,000 students are enrolled in post-secondary classes in Lethbridge. The city is looking for ways to keep graduates in the city.

LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. — About 15,000 students are enrolled at Lethbridge’s post-secondary schools, and now the city is working with those schools to try to find ways to get them to stick around a while.

Many come from out of town and help to boost the local economy during their academic years, but historically, after graduation, a number of those students decide to leave.

The question is what will it take to get them to stay?

“Lethbridge is a campus community, there's 15,000 post-secondary students who live here, contribute here economically, socially, culturally. They bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the community every year,” said Perry Stein, partner services manager for the City of Lethbridge.

About 38 per cent of University of Lethbridge alumni are still in Lethbridge two years after graduation while about 50 per cent of Lethbridge Polytechnic graduates stay in southern Alberta.

Finding a way to get more students to stay local would provide a long-term economic boost.

“These students are the future of our community," said Trevor Lewington, CEO of Economic Development Lethbridge. "So, you know, as populations grow, as populations age, we want to make sure that we've got new people coming into the community, people that are going to be starting families."

Feeling disconnected

A recent report from Economic Development Lethbridge and South Grow Regional Economic Development helps to shed light on why students choose to leave.

Some of the biggest concerns were a lack of entry level jobs, public safety, transportation accessibility and feeling disconnected from the community.

“As companies grow and expand here in Lethbridge, they need a talented workforce to be able to operate," Lewington said . "If we can bridge that gap, if we can work with industry and create more of those early career positions for students, then perhaps they don't have to go away at all. And I think that's the key to making this successful.”

Job opportunities

Schools are doing what they can to show the job opportunities in Lethbridge.

The U of L is promoting its work integrated learning experiences to help students get work experience locally.

“We know that students who engage in work, integrated learning, tend to stay with the organization that they have had their placement with," said Stacey Gaudette-Sharp, academic director at the U of L’s Career Bridge Centre.

"And so it can be a really great way to leverage relationships, (and) build community," she added. "When students participate in work integrated learning, they stay with those employers."