North Island College is expanding nursing training on the North Island with new provincial funding aimed at supporting rural health care.

The Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills is providing a one-time grant of $451,640 to add additional nursing seats at the college.

The funding will create eight new seats at the Mixalakwila campus in Port Hardy.

Students in that cohort are expected to begin in the fall of 2027 and graduate in the spring of 2029.

College president and CEO Lisa Domae says the expansion reflects what the school is hearing from communities across the North Island, including the need for more local training that leads directly to in-demand careers.

She says growing the nursing program supports students while also helping address critical workforce shortages in rural health care.

The province says the funding is part of a broader effort to help more people access care closer to home.

The grant is also intended to ensure rural and remote students have the same opportunities to train for careers in health care within their own communities.

With the new funding, North Island College says it will expand to 32 Licensed Practical Nursing seats overall.

The Mixalakwila cohort will join existing students distributed across Campbell River, the Comox Valley and Port Alberni, with eight seats in each community.

The announcement was made during the college’s Board of Governors meeting Thursday in Port Hardy.

At the same meeting, the board also approved a $65.7 million budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

North Island College says it is aligning programs with provincial labour market priorities, particularly in high-demand fields such as health care, while also working toward a balanced budget in 2027-28.

For more information, visit North Island College.