Community works to save Algonquin College’s special needs program

Algonquin College’s academic assistance for adults with developmental disabilities (AAADD) is the only program of its kind in the city, and the community is coming together in an attempt to save it.

Algonquin’s AAADD program offers those with developmental disabilities the chance to receive post-secondary education when no other school in Ottawa will.

Earlier this year, Algonquin College announced that it was terminating the program due to the financial difficulties the school is facing.

However, the families of current students and those who were planning to register for the program are coming together to try and save it by bringing attention to the issue.

Charlene White, whose son Brennan, 23, is in his third year of the AAADD program, said that getting the word out is the main goal.

“We need lots of media attention, and we have been reaching out in that direction as much as possible, whether that is through television, radio, newspaper, or Algonquin College,” said White.

White said it’s important that the program remain at the college as a resource for the community.

“The location itself is integral to giving all students with learning exceptionalities the same opportunity for inclusiveness to attend post-secondary education,” she said.

Eric Burgin’s daughter Angie, 18, has completed Grade 12 and Burgin said that the AAADD is the only program in the city she could attend in a post-secondary capacity.

“The AAADD program was the one program that she would qualify for with her intellectual disabilities,” he said.

Burgin is also part of the group of parents fighting to save the program and he said that the support from the community has been overall positive.

The advocacy group has been working closely with Chandra Pasma, the NDP MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean, who hosted a community town hall earlier this year about the program’s benefits.

“It’s been an eye-opening experience working with an MPP. When she hosted the town hall earlier this year, there were four MPPs in attendance from two different political parties. That doesn’t happen very often unless the topic is important and non-partisan,” said Burgin.

Pasma has also circulated a petition that calls on the Ontario Progressive Conservative government to save the program.

“The parents and community members have been incredible. They keep sending stacks and stacks of petitions. So I have tabled petitions twice, because I went to Queen’s Park with a big stack and when I came home that weekend, there was already another stack of petitions,” said Pasma.

Pasma believes the AAADD program should be preserved for several reasons.

“I think it’s fundamentally a matter of fairness that these young adults have the same access to post-secondary education as neurotypical young adults. There are also benefits to us, as a community and as a society, when we assist people with developmental disabilities to further their studies,” she said.

Burgin and several other parents met with Claude Brulé, the president and chief executive officer of Algonquin College, and Janet Trakalo, the dean of the school of wellness and public safety and community studies, in September to discuss the importance of the AAADD program and hear Algonquin’s side.

“We let them know how we felt the program was vital to the community being one-of-a-kind,” said Burgin. “They had a chance to share from their side as well, that they have cut other programs to try and trim the budget. We don’t see them as the bad guys, we see them as an institution trying to save money. We just wish it wasn’t this program.”

The college plans to end the AAADD program effective April 30, 2026 and will continue to support the program until then.

The Algonquin Times asked Algonquin College for comment but did not hear back by the deadline for the story.