Providence University College celebrating 100th anniversary

One-hundred years ago, the very first class of Providence University College and Seminary — then known as the Winnipeg Bible Training School — had 26 students and three faculty members who met for classes in a church basement.

In the 2024-25 academic year, the school had 1,693 full and part-time students at its rural campus in Otterburne and in downtown Winnipeg.

“We’ve come a long way,” said president Kenton Anderson of the school, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this weekend.

Founded in 1925 in Winnipeg, the school’s goal was to provide training for “Christian workers for service in voluntary or official positions in the Church, Sunday school, or the mission field at home or abroad.”

Today Providence offers bachelor’s degrees in arts, sciences, business administration and theology, and has majors in communications, aviation, biblical studies, health science and psychology. Over the past 100 years, about 12,000 students have graduated from Providence.

Although much has changed, “the original vision of ministry leadership training continues,” Anderson said, noting that while Providence is a faith-based school, it is open to everyone regardless of their personal faith.

“We are still what we have always been, a Christ-centred place of higher learning, helping people grow in knowledge and character for leadership and service,” he added.

Anderson acknowledged not every year has been easy. “We’ve been through a lot, and had some bruises along the way,” he said, adding there were times when the school was unable to meet payroll. “More than once over the years the president has had to call the community together for prayer,” he said.

One of the bigger challenges came last year when the school’s ambitious plan to serve over 1,000 international business and management students at its Winnipeg campus collapsed after the federal government imposed severe limits on admissions for students from other countries.

That decision caught the school at a bad time. It had recently purchased the old Booth University College campus in downtown Winnipeg to serve its hoped-for large international cohort. The restrictions prompted Providence to shelve the plan; the school was able to sell the former Booth campus, recouping almost all of the purchase cost.

Providence hasn’t given up on its vision to serve international students. “But we do have to be responsible and prepare for the possibility of this program’s loss,” Anderson said, adding the school is working on ways to serve international students in their home countries.

Anderson is also hopeful that the provincial government will give Providence university status in the near future. An attempt to get that status failed in 2023 under the Progressive Conservatives when a private member’s bill was thwarted by the then-opposition NDP.

Providence is already a full degree-granting post-secondary institution in Manitoba, Anderson said, but being granted full university status would enable faculty to access more grants and allow students to more easily transfer credits and degrees to other universities.

“We are hopeful that the government will appreciate the value that we bring to Manitoba so we can take our proper place among our peer institutions here within the province,” Anderson said.

Looking ahead, Providence is planning to strengthen its core operations at its Otterburne campus by working with business and agricultural leaders to build new programs designed to grow and support the Manitoba workforce. They are also in discussion with indigenous communities to see about ways to grow programs in indigenous leadership.

“I am grateful for the privilege of leading this great institution at this significant point in its history,” he said. “I am so proud of our students and our faculty. Someone from outside our community suggested to me recently that Providence develops conscientious leaders. I really like that because I think it’s true.”

Providence is celebrating its anniversary this weekend with events in Steinbach and at its campus in Otterburne. For more information, visit www.prov.ca

Also marking an anniversary this year is Canadian Mennonite University, which is 25 years old.

The school opened in 2000, but its foundations stretch back to its predecessor colleges—Canadian Mennonite Bible College and Mennonite Brethren Bible College—which were founded in the mid-1940s. In the 2024-25 academic year, it had a total of over 850 students.

“We have a legacy that goes back over 80 years,” said CMU president Cheryl Pauls, noting that CMU was established as a university in 1998 by the province.

Through CMU, the legacies of those two predecessor schools, and of Menno Simons College, which was founded in 1989, are brought together through the liberal arts and sciences, along with theology and peace and conflict and international development studies, she said.

“We are a school that is spiritually rooted, called to academic excellence and committed to help communities flourish,” Pauls said, adding that new offerings include bachelors of social work and education degrees.

“We are shaped out of our faith tradition to prepare students for the world as it is today and for what it can be tomorrow,” added Sandy Koop Harder, vice president external at CMU. “We help them to shape the world, not just respond to it.”

CMU will celebrate its anniversary Sept. 19-20 at its campus at 500 Shaftesbury Blvd. For more information, visit www.media.cmu.ca/events

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