ManitobaProvidence University College and Theological Seminary is hosting a three-day homecoming a century in the making while planning to play a bigger education role in southern Manitoba.Providence is seeking official university status from the province as it expands its degree offeringsChristopher Gareau · CBC News · Posted: Aug 29, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoProvidence University College Provost Nicholas Greco says $20 million in planned renovations to the Otterburne campus will make the school more accessible and expand its offerings. (Chris Gareau/CBC)Providence University College and Theological Seminary is hosting a three-day homecoming a century in the making while planning to play a bigger education role in southern Manitoba.Steinbach’s first big concert at its new Southeast Event Centre — with Grammy winner Zach WIlliams and Juno winner Jordan St. Cyr — is part of Providence’s centennial celebration on Sept. 6.”One hundred years only happens once in the life of a university like ours, and so we thought, well, how can we make a splash in southern Manitoba? One way is to have one of the largest concerts ever in Steinbach, if not the largest ever,” Provost Nicholas Greco said.Teresa Olson and Rebecca Neufeld celebrate opening day at what was then called Providence College in September 1998. Providence University College is celebrating 100 years with a homecoming festival Sept. 6. (Providence University College)A $20-million campaign has kicked off to renovate Providence and make it more accessible for students taking arts, science and aviation courses, while expanding its non-denominational seminary to spread the Christian faith.It’s also working to become a provincially recognized university under the Advanced Education Administration Act.The private Christian post-secondary school, based in Otterburne, Man., with a second campus in Winnipeg, had 1,500 students last year, Greco said. It grants degrees and works with public universities and colleges, including transferring credits to the University of Manitoba.It first opened in 1925 in Winnipeg, as the Winnipeg Bible Training School. To celebrate its 100th anniversary, a public homecoming will take place at the Otterburne campus on Sept. 5, and the three-day centennial celebration will wrap up with an on-campus worship service on Sept. 7.An award ceremony and gala Sept. 5 at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg will honour 26 people, including the late Muriel D. Taylor, who was among the school’s first three faculty members when it opened, focusing on ministry training.Providence University College started in 1925 as the Winnipeg Bible Training School. Muriel D. Taylor (right) was in the first faculty of three people. She has a building at the Otterburne campus named after her, and she will be honoured posthumously Sept. 5 as part of the school’s three-day celebration of its centennial. (Providence University College)Taylor’s name is already on one of the buildings at the Otterburne campus, about 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg.”She was a woman teaching in a university setting and in a religious university setting, which I think would be doubly challenging for her,” Greco said.”We have to thank those who came before me that helped guide this institution forward, and of course, as Christians, we thank God for God’s help.”Official university status soughtProvidence president Kenton Anderson said the school becoming a provincially recognized university would “really put us at another level.”While the school has been certified to offer degrees, the full provincial status would give more access to grants — and give rural southern Manitoba a seat at the table when discussing provincial post-secondary policy with other recognized universities, Anderson said.Greco said the official university recognition would also be an added draw for a planned agriculture program at Providence.Offering programs like agriculture and Assiniboine College’s practical nursing diploma, part of which has been taught in Otterburne since 2022, helps keep students in southern Manitoba after they graduate, he said.”They’re from this area and they stay in this area,” said Greco.Providence also has international students, mostly from India, but also places like Nigeria and the Philippines. Most of them take business classes at the William Avenue campus in Winnipeg, Greco said.Providence University College offers post-secondary science courses and other degrees, and hopes to get official provincial designation as a university. (Providence University College)It has maxed out the number of new international undergrad students it can have after the federal government put restrictions on the number allowed in each province. Manitoba gave most of the spots to public post-secondary schools. Providence is now lobbying to be allowed more international students as public schools have seen a large drop in applicants from other countries and are not using all their spots.”We have recruiters that we’re working closely with in other places to get those students,” Greco said.Over the years, Providence has changed its name a few times. It was the Winnipeg Bible Institute and College of Theology in 1948. It became the Winnipeg Bible College when it got full degree-granting status in 1964.Its Otterburne campus opened in 1970 in a former Catholic school, but did not become Providence College and Theological Seminary until 1991. It added university to its name in 2011.Greco said a Christian view has remained at the core of the post-secondary institution, but students of all faiths or no faith attend.Rev. Perceval Cundy (front) at the Spence Street campus in 1926. Cundy was one of three faculty members who taught the first year, and was the school’s second president after founder Dr. H.L. Turner. (Providence University College)”It’s not about necessarily believing in Jesus Christ, but rather doing the kinds of things that Jesus would have taught us to do,” he said. “That’s kind of what we want students to leave this place with — some of those ethics, ways to serve others in the world and to be good citizens that contribute to their communities.”ABOUT THE AUTHORChristopher Gareau is a CBC Manitoba reporter based in Steinbach who covers the province’s southeastern region. He has previously covered southeastern Manitoba in print, and worked in radio and print in northwestern B.C. and southwestern Ontario. You can reach him at christopher.gareau@cbc.ca.
Providence University College plans $20M renovation, expansion as it celebrates 100 years
