Encouraging and supporting young people to enter into the engineering and geoscience professions is crucial:
Alberta Employment and Immigration forecasts a shortage of skilled professionals over the long term.
A 60 per cent increase in tuition over the past 10 years (and additional increases proposed for coming years) has had a serious impact on students – in particular their ability to focus on their education.
From 2008 to 2009 the University of Alberta reported an overall increase of 32 per cent in requests for bursaries and emergency funding, a trend that is expected to continue.