Algonquin College

Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is a publicly funded English-language college located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The college has three campuses, all in Ontario: a primary campus in Ottawa, and secondary campuses in Perth and Pembroke. It offers bachelor's degrees, diplomas, and certificates. The college serves the National Capital Region and the outlying areas of Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and Upstate New York. It has been ranked among the Top 50 Research Colleges in Canada and has been recognized as one of Canada's top innovation leaders. The enabling legislation is the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act. It is a member of Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) and Polytechnics Canada.

The college was established during the formation of Ontario's college system in 1967. Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology were established on May 21, 1965, when the Ontario system of public colleges was created. The founding institutions were the Eastern Ontario Institute of Technology (established in 1957) and the Ontario Vocational Centre Ottawa (established in 1965 at the Woodroffe Campus and known as OVC). The original 8-acre (3.2 ha) site on Woodroffe Avenue was donated to the city by Mr and Mrs Frank Ryan.

The Ottawa architecture firm of Burgess, McLean & MacPhadyen designed the midcentury academic complex with open-ended blocks alternatively faced with long glass expanses in a semi-gambrel formation that make up the curtain walls and precast aggregate panels. The corporate campus or modernist academic acropolis spread across North America in the early 1960s.

The first Principal of the Ontario Vocational Centre (OVC) was Kenneth G. Shoultz. Shoultz took on the leadership of OVC in 1965 after working as a technical studies teacher and then as an inspector for the Ontario Department of Education. He continued on as the first Dean of the Technical Centre after OVC was amalgamated with Algonquin College in 1967.

The college is named after the Algonquin people who were the original inhabitants of the area.

In 1964, the Rideau Campus was established. "Satellite" campuses in Pembroke, Hawkesbury, Perth, Carleton Place and Renfrew were established in the late 1960s. The Vanier School of Nursing became a part of the Woodroffe Campus when nursing programs began to be offered at the college. In 1973, the School of Prescott-Russell joined the Algonquin family and the Colonel By Campus was created through the acquisition of St. Patrick's College. With the creation of La Cité Collégiale, 1990 marked the beginning of Algonquin as an English-only college. The Hawkesbury campus was transferred to La Cité Collégiale, and the Renfrew, Colonel By, Carleton Place, and Rideau campuses were progressively closed between 1990 and 2002.

In 2025, the college announced plans to close the Perth campus and 41 programs, citing significant projected budget deficits.

Algonquin has over 19,000 full-time students in more than 180 programs, focused on arts and technology. There are over 155 Ontario college programs, 18 apprenticeship programs, 40 co-op programs, 6 collaborative degree programs and 22 bachelor's degree programs. Some of these degrees are through direct collaborative partnerships with Carleton University and University of Ottawa.