Otterburne to host Assiniboine Practical Nursing program in 2024

Assiniboine Community College is offering a second intake of the Practical Nursing program at the rural rotating training site at Providence University College in Otterburne, Manitoba. The program will start in September 2024 with capacity for 25 students.

Applications for Otterbrune’s Practical Nursing site are now open. Applications will be assessed and admitted on an ongoing basis, with those living within 100 km of Otterburne being given priority.

A significant provincial investment in 2021 expanded Assiniboine’s Portage la Prairie nursing site to welcome 35 new students each year and allowed for three additional rural rotating sites every two years.

In addition to rural rotating sites, the college has permanent Practical Nursing programs at its campuses in Brandon, Winnipeg, Dauphin and Portage la Prairie.

The college will announce additional rural rotating Practical Nursing sites across the province for 2024-25 in the coming weeks.

The demand for Assiniboine nursing graduates continues to be high; 100 per cent of practical nursing graduates surveyed from the 2021-22 academic year said they had jobs, making on average more than $57,000 a year.

Important updates, information, and checklists for prospective applicants are available at assiniboine.net/nursing.

“Offering training closer to home means people living in rural communities have more choice when pursuing post-secondary education, and this Practical Nursing program in Otterburne will enable more nurses to be trained to fill the on-going demand. As we work to fulfill our commitment to add 400 new nursing seats to meet Manitoba’s health sector needs, this program also complements our health human resource action plan to retain, train and recruit more nurses and the implementation of our government’s Skills, Training and Knowledge Strategy.”
- The Honourable Sarah Guillemard, Minister of Advanced Education and Training

"I am pleased to see the expansion of the rural rotating practical nursing program. This program has been a huge success in our region. It is a program that not only works towards increasing the number of qualified nurses in the workforce, but it provides an accessible post-secondary option, closer to home.
- Jane Curtis, Chief Executive Officer withSouthern Health-Santé Sud

“Nursing positions are in high demand throughout the province, and our rural rotating sites provide educational access to train and keep prospective nurses close to home. Opportunities like this are made possible through partnerships with those who see the value that we do in these programs, and we thank Providence University College, the community and local health region, as well as the province for bringing this opportunity to life.”
- Mark Frison, President at Assiniboine

“Providence University College is grateful to be collaborating with Assiniboine Community College and with Southern Health Santé Sud in the provision of Practical Nursing training on our Otterburne campus. Few things are more important than public health. We are pleased to be part of the solution for the critical nursing shortage that exists in our region. Through this multi-faceted collaboration, we are each able to offer more than any of us could do on our own. This is good for our communities and good for Manitoba.”
- Kenton Anderson, President of Providence University College