ManitobaThe University of Winnipeg says it wants to build an inclusive campus that’s strong on research and a leader in moving reconciliation with Indigenous communities forward, as it sets its priorities for the next five years. Roadmap with 5 pillars will guide university’s decision-making and finances until 2030CBC News · Posted: Oct 21, 2025 4:32 PM EDT | Last Updated: 34 minutes agoThe University of Winnipeg’s new strategic plan includes five broad pillars that will provide guidance on how school crafts upcoming budgets, says the U of W’s president. (Terry Stapleton/CBC)The University of Winnipeg says it wants to build an inclusive campus that’s strong on research and a leader in reconciliation with Indigenous communities, as it sets its priorities for the next five years. On Tuesday, the university released a five-year strategic plan centred around five areas: academic success, enhanced research, supporting reconciliation, strengthening community relations and revitalizing the campus.”It’s a reflection of what the community sees as the most productive directions for itself and where it can make an impact,” said University of Winnipeg president Todd Mondor.The new strategic plan builds on one designed 10 years ago and is intended to inform the university’s decision-making and finances until 2030, Mondor said. Measurable outcomes, timelines and accountability mechanisms to help realize its five broad objectives will be developed in the coming months, the university says.”Our shared goal is to ensure this plan lives not just in documents, but in the daily work and culture of this institution,” said Pavlina Radia, the university’s vice-president academic.University of Winnipeg president Todd Mondor says the school’s new strategic plan is a reflection of what its community wants to see moving forward. (Submitted by University of Winnipeg)There’s no specific cost associated with implementing the plan, but Mondor said its five priorities will provide guidelines on how the university crafts upcoming budgets. For example, the strategy outlines the university’s hope to invest in state-of-the-art research laboratories and archival facilities, while expanding internal grants for research. Investments in research at the university over the last decade have produced important work, including the development of water quality testing systems in Saskatchewan First Nations, said Jeff Martin, a physics professor and Canada Research Chair at the U of W.”This work has a direct and tangible impact on the world around us,” Martin said at the plan’s launch event.”Through the plan … we’ll support projects in basic research that can have unforeseen spinoffs.”Diversity and reconciliationThe university also said it wants to remove systemic barriers so historically excluded or marginalized groups can access research, and identifies championing equity, diversity and inclusion as an “overarching commitment.” That includes creating an inclusive campus that’s accessible for people with disabilities and makes “meaningful strides in Black inclusion and excellence,” the strategic plan says.The new plan also includes a focus on “foster[ing] Indigenous excellence across research, scholarship, teaching and learning” and building “respectful and reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities, both internally and externally.” Christy Anderson, a lecturer in the university’s Indigenous studies department, said the U of W has long been at the forefront of incorporating Indigenous knowledge in the classroom, being one of the first schools in Canada to require an Indigenous studies credit for all students.”It is exciting to work in a place where reconciliation … and celebrating Indigenous contributions” are prioritized, along with diversity, equity and inclusion — “particularly in a time when these essential pillars of healthy, progressive societies are being stifled elsewhere in the world,” she said.WATCH | U of Winnipeg’s strategic plan outlines priorities amid financial challenges:U of Winnipeg’s strategic plan outlines priorities amid financial challengesThe University of Winnipeg has a new five-pillar strategic plan to help guide it through the next five years. The new strategic plan comes as the university navigates financial troubles and was forced to suspend programs earlier this year. The university’s faculty association hopes the plan will address those issues.Diversity and equity are core principles that can’t be separated from schools if institutions want to see students succeed or be part of the local community, said Peter Miller, president of the University of Winnipeg Faculty Association.”This is something we are going to stand up for now in a landscape where we have institutions in Canada that are wavering on this a little,” he said. “Then of course we have colleagues in the U.S. who are under intense pressure to bow to the whims of those who think inclusion is not important.”University of Winnipeg Faculty Association president Peter Miller says he would like the university to focus on good employment standards for its employees in the development of its strategic plan. (Ian Froese/CBC)Although the pillars of the plan speak to an aspirational big picture, Miller is happy to see them written down on a mandate.But he said the university’s goals need funding and he is interested to see how the university can also use the plan to also give the institution financial stability. “We had a very tough year last year with some cuts to aspects of the university that would be part and parcel of this,” he said. “English language program, soccer programs … are things that, as the plan suggests, bring different communities to campus or bring a sense of community.” As the president of the union representing academic staff, Miller said he would also like the university to focus on good employment standards for its employees in the development of its strategic plan.”That means permanent full-time faculty positions that allow people to work here across generations of students, to support students, to make them go on to greater things,” he said. “Faculty renewal is to me the key element in the success of the institution going forward.”With files from Mike Arsenault and Santiago Arias Orozco
U of Winnipeg’s 5-year strategic plan includes focus on research, reconciliation
