Keith Roberts
News Reporter

Ontario’s largest college is at an all-time high in enrollment and is only expected to grow more.
“We are now the biggest college in Ontario,” said Humber President John Davies.
The largest growth is among first-year students with an increase of nearly eleven per cent in 2008.
Humber had about 7,700 first-year students last year between the North, Lakeshore and Orangeville campuses and this year has over 8,500, said Davies.
Shawn Brenneman, first-year television broadcast student, said he chose Humber because he heard nothing but good things.
“I heard that there was a lot of professionals, right out of the field, that work here and the employment rate is very good,” Brenneman said.
With more students comes the need for more space and Davies is aware of the issue.
“The North Campus is expanding into the space we built in anticipation of college growth,” said Davies.
He added much of the expansion is happening at the Lakeshore campus, “where most of this growth is actually taking place because of the roll-out of the new four year degree program.”
Davies said there might be a time when Humber caps its growth and he thinks that time could come sooner than later, especially at North Campus.
“There is a growing shortage of post-secondary spaces in the GTA…Humber’s got to play a significant part in meeting that demand,” said Davies.
That demand is estimated to be as high as 50,000 post-secondary spaces within the next five to seven years, according to Davies.
Not included in the numbers released by Colleges Ontario are Humber’s roughly 1,700 apprentices, 800 nursing students and the approximately 2,600 students who attend Guelph-Humber, said Davies.
“Humber’s a very strong financial institution,” said Davies. “If there’s a downturn in financial contributions from the provincial government we’re certainly in the best position to weather that of any college in Ontario.”
Davies said the college operates on a roughly $220 million annual budget.
According to Humber’s 2007-2008 financial statement posted on its website, the college receives nearly $110 million in government grants and reimbursements.