Market Square

[taylortbb]

So, where should one study for PSW or paralegal instead? Because clearly we do need both paralegals and PSWs.

Conestoga offers a PSW program, and while they don't have a paralegal program there are public colleges that do.

I think ac3r was overly dismissive of triOS, but the truth is that the employment stats show public colleges (e.g. Conestoga) have MUCH higher employment rates than the for-profit colleges like triOS. Employers clearly believe the public college diplomas are more valuable.

[Bytor]

These are the kind places that result in PSWs working 3 jobs at 3 LTC homes at minimum wage just to survive

That's not the fault of triOS or similar schools, though. That's the fault of for-profit LTC homes trying to increase their profit margin by hiring only part-timers so they don't has as many payroll taxes or benefits to pay out per FTE.

or IT students running an OnlyFans side hustle just to pay rent.

Well, none of my classmates from triOS have done that.

Private strip mall colleges are a scam, don't be naive. You go, pay for a worthless title and hope to the heavens you land a good job...which is hard to do when employers see you studied at a place like triOS.

I'm really, really trying not to use "elitist" and "classist" here, but I'm just going to let myself fail at that because I can see that you've already got your mind set and no amount of contradicting information will make you change it.

[ac3r]

So, where should one study for PSW or paralegal instead? Because clearly we do need both paralegals and PSWs.

Conestoga offers a PSW program, and while they don't have a paralegal program there are public colleges that do.

I think ac3r was overly dismissive of triOS, but the truth is that the employment stats show public colleges (e.g. Conestoga) have MUCH higher employment rates than the for-profit colleges like triOS. Employers clearly believe the public college diplomas are more valuable.

Exactly. Yeah you might get lucky and find a good job. If you're very dedicated, you can move up. But for profit colleges like these are bottom of the barrel in regards to how far it's going to take you in life.

Moreso, I'm critical of anything for profit, be it this, health care or long term care homes. When profit takes precedence over all else, you get subpar results unless you're the one making money. People would be better off going to Conestoga. And as an aside, public education should just be free as it is elsewhere in the world, but that's a different issue all together.

[ac3r]

I'm really, really trying not to use "elitist" and "classist" here, but I'm just going to let myself fail at that because I can see that you've already got your mind set and no amount of contradicting information will make you change it.

I'm not making a classist argument, so don't try to make it seem like I am. These colleges just aren't the most ideal place to go to. Can you study at one and find a job that more or less pays the bills? Sure, if you're lucky, but the facts are that you're going to be more valued if you studied somewhere like Conestoga and thus earn more money. For example, GRH has certain wings where they act as a teaching environment for people who go to Conestoga. This gives them much better experience and can help land them a job at the hospital or a public care home, earning them more and having a better resume on top of that.

[tomh009]

I'm really, really trying not to use "elitist" and "classist" here, but I'm just going to let myself fail at that because I can see that you've already got your mind set and no amount of contradicting information will make you change it.

I'm not making a classist argument, so don't try to make it seem like I am. These colleges just aren't the most ideal place to go to. Can you study at one and find a job that more or less pays the bills? Sure, if you're lucky, but the facts are that you're going to be more valued if you studied somewhere like Conestoga and thus earn more money. For example, GRH has certain wings where they act as a teaching environment for people who go to Conestoga. This gives them much better experience and can help land them a job at the hospital or a public care home, earning them more and having a better resume on top of that.

The number of places at community colleges is limited, though, not everyone who wants to be a PSW can get into their program. And this is the gap that the for-profit colleges help fill.

At our company, we try to hire the best candidates. And we try to avoid eliminating candidates on the basis of where they studied. Each candidate is an individual, and just because that person studied at university X or college Y doesn't necessary make them a better (or worse) employee than someone else. But that's just us ...

[ac3r]

Well that's always a good thing: be inclusive despite where they studied. But that still doesn't negate the education and experience one can receive at a proper college versus schools that exist in dead malls and strip malls. There's a lot of online reviews for these kind of places that does not paint them in a good light.

Anyway, this is all irrelevant, I was mostly surprised to learn this place still operates when do many have shut down or have got into legal trouble.

[ijmorlan]

Anyway, this is all irrelevant, I was mostly surprised to learn this place still operates when do many have shut down or have got into legal trouble.

In other words, this one is better than all those other ones that got into trouble. Maybe it — shock! — is actually a decent institution of its type.

[taylortbb]

21-127499
49 FREDERICK ST
Permit is for the interior demolition of a portion of the ground floor suites in Market Square to prepare for a future tenant.

21-131005
49 FREDERICK ST
Permit is for interior alterations for Conestoga College campus.

Looks like Conestoga College is expanding their campus here. On one hand, they did say pre-pandemic that they'd do this, on the other, I'm kind of shocked that a campus that was only used for 2 months needs an expansion, and that Conestoga has the money for it.

[tomh009]

21-127499
49 FREDERICK ST
Permit is for the interior demolition of a portion of the ground floor suites in Market Square to prepare for a future tenant.

21-131005
49 FREDERICK ST
Permit is for interior alterations for Conestoga College campus.

Looks like Conestoga College is expanding their campus here. On one hand, they did say pre-pandemic that they'd do this, on the other, I'm kind of shocked that a campus that was only used for 2 months needs an expansion, and that Conestoga has the money for it.

Foreign students ... they bring in a lot of funding for Conestoga College.

[jeffster]

21-127499
49 FREDERICK ST
Permit is for the interior demolition of a portion of the ground floor suites in Market Square to prepare for a future tenant.

21-131005
49 FREDERICK ST
Permit is for interior alterations for Conestoga College campus.

Looks like Conestoga College is expanding their campus here. On one hand, they did say pre-pandemic that they'd do this, on the other, I'm kind of shocked that a campus that was only used for 2 months needs an expansion, and that Conestoga has the money for it.

A good problem to have.

[nms]

I suspect that expansion was always in the cards from the day that they moved in but it was put off until now. The school got pole-axed when the foreign student pipeline was shutdown with the borders closed. There were various layoffs and some staff contracts were left to expire when the population dropped.

[Vojnik_Vahaj]

Indeed. It's too bad, these are tough socio-economic issues to deal with, and appear especially magnified in Kitchener. There is no one-size-fits-all either. If you make the shelters/facilities in one part of town exclusively, that comes with its issues...if you spread it into neighborhoods/school zones, there's a plethora of other issues.

Has any city tackled this successfully?

This is difficult, and can’t be solved by arguing between between harsh and being lenient.

There are some people I legitimately don’t want living near me (people who threaten or harass people, or steal stuff) and there are people who are fine (people of every race, background, and economic situation).

I think our problem is that we don’t have much ability to provide good accountability with the justice system and police response to minor crimes (or major ones for that matter). We no longer do harsh punishment for minor crime (transportation to Van Diemen’s land is right out); but we don’t have a system that really takes responsibility for minor re-offenders.

I think we need a system that provides a cross between a mental hospital, group home, prison, and halfway house, and which would provide many of the same services as all of these. The idea is to house people in a controlled environment where their privileges can be adjusted according to behaviour, while providing them with whatever treatment they need. Continue stealing bicycles (or shoplifting, or whatever), and one will end up spending all of ones time inside the facility. Behave appropriately, and one will get more and more freedom and eventually the option to move out. All occupants who are able would have the opportunity to work. The facility would have to be run in a way that provides a safe environment for both its occupants and the public living nearby. The approach taken to outside appointments (e.g. to see a doctor) would also be part of the privilege adjustment: some people would be trusted to go to the doctor and come back by themselves, while others would travel in a prison van. Other in-between possibilities also exist.

What this means in detail I don’t know enough about the people involved to really say. I think of the recent case where a shoplifter was given a very light sentence (time served plus one day in jail, if I recall, when the judge could have given multiple years), and then was picked up for another offence within a week. Clearly, they need to be kept in a controlled environment; but I don’t believe in just dumping people in jail.

I think people who want to be lenient don’t appreciate that things we take for granted, such as convenient retail stores where anybody can just walk in, pick up what they need, and pay money to an unarmed cashier on their way out of the store, can only exist if shoplifting is rare. On the other hand, people who want to be harsh don’t appreciate how fantastically expensive (in many ways, not just money) it is to maintain a large prison system.

I’m aware that what I’m proposing would be very expensive. But it seems to me that what we’re doing right now is pretty expensive too.

Thats honestly one of the best idea's I've heard. That in itself would be expensive(I think, but more research to be done). But prison systems don't need to be expensive. Shawshank Redemption style penal labour in state-run prisons(private prisons are awful) could help generate income for the prison to run or at least offset the cost of running it. Hell, we can make it harsher and worse work for worse crimes. It should definitly be combined with rehabilitation so once the inmate is let out, they have actual work experience and can get a job somewhere.

[nms]

In general, for the about the last 30 to 40 years, cuts to social services have lead to either a downloading of responsibility to municipalities or non-profit organizations (eg churches, the House of Friendship). For example, when the first batch of residential provincial program closures occurred in the 1990s. the Ontario provincial government promised funding to local governments to support these populations that had previously received wraparound support. Unfortunately, the funding never appeared in adequate quantities (if at all).