Algonquin College Perth alumni, community members rally to ‘save’ campus

Algonquin College Perth alumni and community members are signing an online petition titled “Save Algonquin College Perth Campus” in hopes the college will reverse its decision to close the campus in 2026.

The college recently announced plans to close its Perth campus, citing “unprecedented financial challenges.”

That decision was met with shock and frustration from many in Perth, alarmed by the economic and social repercussions it might bring.

The petition warns the closure would “result in lost jobs for faculty and support staff, and the loss of opportunity for local students to receive an education without removing themselves from the community.”

“Algonquin College Perth has also become a community hub,” the petition says. “It hosts continuing education courses for professionals and community members, as well as markets for local artists and craftspeople.”

In Perth, a town well known for its heritage buildings and carpentry traditions, the college’s heritage carpentry and joinery program holds a special and long-standing relationship with the nearby community.

Speaking to the Algonquin Times, petitioner Braeden Suggitt, a Perth heritage carpentry alumnus, described feeling shocked and heartbroken after hearing about the closure through an alumni group chat.

“With such a small campus, we knew there wasn’t a lot of money coming in,” said Suggitt. “But knowing the campus’ positive impacts — especially to the local community — it’s a little surprising. Like really, you’re choosing to do that?”

With the petition, “we wanted to show just how many people support this campus and the huge reach that this small town has,” Suggitt said.

One of those supporters is Willa Murray, another graduate of the heritage carpentry program. She now works as a carpenter and leather worker.

Murray praised Perth’s campus for its small size, which she said helped her foster close connections with professors and classmates. It was a unique learning environment that helped her hone her craft.

“There isn’t anything else like (the Perth campus),” Murray said.

Without it, she predicts that local landlords would lose their revenue, businesses would have fewer part-time staff and Perth’s senior demographic would receive less support.

“We would be missing a whole demographic,” said Murray.

Kelly Charlebois, a Perth resident and Algonquin College alumna from both Perth and Ottawa, also signed the petition.

“There’s nothing else between (Perth) and Kingston,” Charlebois said about Ontario’s rural post-secondary options. “Losing the college is not good for our local economy.”

She said the closure would force young adults to leave Perth to seek higher education and better paying jobs, opening a hole in the local workforce.

Once the Perth campus closes, the college said it plans to move its existing programs to the Ottawa campus.

In an email to Suggitt, Algonquin College president and CEO Claude Brulé asserted the college is “dedicated to finding ways to maintain the core elements of these programs and their ties to heritage and craftsmanship” after the transfer.

Suggitt, however, is not convinced.

“It would lose some important aspects,” he said.

From log building to timber framing, the heritage carpentry program uses much of the Perth campus pavilion. Suggitt says there is not enough space at Ottawa’s ACCE-building, especially with pre-existing carpentry classes.

“It’s just not easily done,” Suggit said.

Since graduating, Suggitt has been working for Parks Canada in Whitehorse.

He and another Perth heritage carpentry alumnus are working to restore the S.S. Klondike, a historic steamship designated as a national historic site since 1967.

Suggitt said people like him are brought in, not only because the heritage carpentry program makes him highly qualified, but because there are no local carpenters.

Whether it’s Whitehorse or Perth, Suggitt said, “we need to be investing in rural education, not making cuts.”

Closing the campus, Suggitt said, will not help fix the college’s financial woes. He called it a “Band-Aid solution to a much bigger problem.”

“The extra money could help restart programs elsewhere,” he said, “but it can’t buy back the lost trust from this community.”