Episode #88: There's a Daycare Inside This Career College. That's the Point…with Mina Tadrous

Most people think of a career college as a stepping stone. Mina Tadrous, Director of Campus Operations and Student Affairs at the Ontario Institute of Health and Innovation (OHII) in Toronto, sees it differently — he sees it as a turning point.

Mina is a career college graduate himself. He completed a paralegal program at Herzing College during a difficult stretch of his own life, went on to practise as a paralegal, and eventually found his way back to the sector as an employee — spending 12 years helping students do exactly what the college once did for him. In this episode of the EdUp Canada Podcast, host Michael Sangster sits with Mina inside the OHII campus to talk about what that career-changing impact actually looks like in practice.

They cover the college's newly accredited Early Childhood Educator program — one of only a handful in Ontario — and the deliberate investment in a hands-on lab built to industry standard. They talk about the 150 employer partners OHII has built relationships with, what it takes to make a placement turn into a same-day job offer, and why industry is increasingly turning to career colleges to find work-ready graduates. And they have an honest conversation about the challenges facing the sector: regulatory instability, lack of consultation, and the difficulty of planning for the long term when policy can shift week to week.

If you want to understand what's actually happening inside Canada's career college sector right now — from the student experience to the employer relationships to the regulatory pressures — this is the episode.

What to expect

[00:02:30] — "I Was at a Stage With More Downs Than Ups"

[00:05:45] — Life Is Getting Better, One Day at a Time

[00:07:00] — One of Only a Handful in Ontario

[00:09:30] — "We're Getting the Best Stuff"

[00:10:30] — Hired Two Weeks Into Her Placement

[00:16:00] — 150 Employer Partners and Growing

[00:17:45] — "Every Other Week, a New Challenge"

[00:21:00] — Come See the Campus

Full transcript: https://share.descript.com/view/6fKZwzyU4nk

⁠Listen to past episodes here:www.edupcanada.ca‍ ‍