Vintage Assiniboine Timeline
Back to 65th Anniversary Homepage | Memory Lane | Assiniboine Timeline | Vintage Assiniboine Store (coming soon)
1960
The Technical and Vocational Training Assistance Act was passed by the federal government.
1961
Brandon Vocational Training Centre Opens – Five pre-employment courses were offered: Automotive Mechanics; Electrical Construction; Architectural Drafting; Plumbing; and Commercial and General Office Practice.
1963
Diplomas are awarded as a credential.
1964
Brandon Vocation Training Centre’s name changes to the Manitoba’s Vocational Centre.
1966
Victoria Ave East Campus in Brandon Opens – The building is home to 23 different programs.
1969
Manitoba’s Vocational Centre is renamed Assiniboine Community College.
1970
College gets its first video equipment: an IVC Recorder and RCA camera.
1971
An athletics program is introduced to the college.
1974
Assiniboine obtains a PDP8E computer, one of the first computers in the Brandon area.
1976
Then Premier Ed Schreyer takes “The Ampeater” for a test drive. The vehicle was part of a government challenge presented to Assiniboine for students to convert a conventional gas-powered vehicle to run on electricity using a limit of $4,000 for parts and supplies on a commercially available vehicle.
1980
Men’s hockey is introduced at Assiniboine College.
1982
The new wing at the Victoria Ave East campus officially opens, increasing the existing space by 50% or 93,000 square feet.
1983
Cougars men’s hockey team becomes a sports dynasty winning its third consecutive Manitoba Colleges Athletic Association provincial championship.
1986
Assiniboine’s Parkland Campus opens its doors.
1986
Video conferencing is introduced at the college, which was hailed as an educational revolution at the time.
1986
Provincial government of the day decides to stop funding college sports in Manitoba.
1987
Men’s curling team wins Canadian College Athletics Association gold.
1989
Great Grey Owl Restaurant welcomes its first guests and becomes a successful annual fundraising event.
1998
Winnipeg campus opens.
2000
President Brent Mills brings back athletics to Assiniboine!
2001
Assiniboine becomes the first organization in the province to install a new telephone system called an Internet Protocol Telephone Network.
2002
Government of Manitoba, under Premier Gary Doer, announces $25 million to help the college move to the North Hill location.
2003
CJ-106, a campus-community radio station, hits the airwaves for the first time.
2004
Assiniboine’s Students’ Association hosts the 1st Annual Sun of a Beach volleyball tournament. This sports and party-centric event drew teams from near and far for over a decade.
2004
Men’s hockey returns to the college.
2007
Manitoba Institute of Culinary Arts official opens at a grand luncheon prepared by culinary students and served by hospitality students.
2007
Women’s hockey team is created, first playing in the Central Plains Athletic Conference but eventually joining the American Collegiate Hockey Association in 2016-17.
2010
Len Evans Centre for Trades and Technology officially opens on the North Hill campus.
2013
Assiniboine’s sustainable 3,300-square-foot greenhouse officially opens on the North Hill campus.
2013
Assiniboine introduces men’s and women’s varsity soccer teams competing in the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference.
2019
Assiniboine sees over 600 international students from across the globe completing a variety of programs.
2020
The practical nursing and comprehensive health care aide programs move from the School of Health and Human Services to a newly formed School of Nursing.
2021
Assiniboine’s Portage/Southport campus for the practical nursing program becomes a permanent site.
2023
Assiniboine unveils the new Russ Edwards School of Agriculture & Environment following a gift of $4M from Russ and Edna Edwards and family to the Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.
2023
Cougars Athletics hires Maureen Bonar, Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame Inductee, to be the head coach of the newly created men’s and women’s curling teams.
2024
Assiniboine Community College is rebranded Assiniboine College with a new logo.
2024
School of Business is renamed the Peters School of Business following a transformational gift of $10M from Gord and Diane Peters, life-long residents of Westman.
2025
Government of Manitoba, under Premier Wab Kinew, receives $120M for the Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.
2025
Assiniboine sees its first athlete, Kylee Peake (Women’s Volleyball) named all-Canadian by the Canadian College Athletic Association.