issue 9// vol 46

news // no. 5

Douglas to increase parking rates

» The hourly rate doubles on January 1, 2020

Atiba Nelson
Staff Reporter

 

De College is ringing in 2020 by
increasing student parking rates at
both New Westminster and Coquitlam

campuses.

As posted on the Douglas College
parking homepage, student parking rates
will increase on January 1 2020 by 100
percent for the current one hour parking
rate, and by $2.00 for daily parking. The
new rates also herald the elimination of the
current “evening flat rate” of $1.50 after six
o'clock.

One reason that the parking rates
increase is the rise in the TransLink-
collected parking tax, which increased in
July 2019 from 21 percent to 24 percent.

With twenty-four cents of every dollar
going to TransLink and another five cents
remitted to the province for GST, Douglas
parking rates are still among the lowest
in Metro Vancouver, with only Kwantlen
Polytechnic University pricing their
parking fees lower—despite a higher price

for a semester-long parking
pass.

The Other Press reviewed
parking rates at several other
post-secondary institutions
in the Vancouver area and
found that the Douglas College
Parking Services claim that
“Douglas College continues to
offer the lowest parking fees of
any post-secondary institution
in the Lower Mainland,” as
stated on the Douglas College
News homepage, is correct.

Although Douglas
students pay the lowest
parking rates of many
post-secondary students,
Douglas’ parking rates are
now more expensive than the City of
New Westminster and City of Coquitlam
parking rates for both neighbouring
residential streets, and nearby parkades.

The hourly parking rate for surface
parking and parkade parking lots operated
by the City of New Westminster ranges

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from $1.25 to $1.75 per hour, while the City
of Coquitlam charges prospective parkers
$1.00 per hour, capping out at a maximum
of $4.00 per day for designated on-street
“Park and Ride” stalls and city-owned
parking lots. Both municipalities feature
parking lots and residential parking spots
that surround both Douglas campuses.

 

Despite reasonable parking rates
offered by the institution and the
municipalities, many students park on side
streets near both New Westminster and
Coquitlam campuses to take advantage of
free time-limited visitor and residential
parking.

 

 

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Atiba Nelson
Staff Reporter

 

n celebration of Health Care Assistant

Day in British Columbia, the province
announced an injection of funds to train
health care assistants and other aid workers
across the province.

The province, through the Ministry of
Advanced Education, Skills and Training,
committed $3.64 million dollars over the
next two years to train workers to support
the elderly—which includes care aids and
community health workers.

The increase funding is meant to
support and maintain a high quality of
life for the growing number of adults over
65 years old in the population—which
is expected to make up 23 percent of
Canadians (or over 9.5 million seniors) by
the year 2030. Also, the infusion of funds
underlies the province’s commitment to
seniors.

“Health care assistants are making a
real difference for the people they care for
[and] by providing more training spaces
for people wishing to become a health care
assistants, we are taking an important step
to ensure that caregivers are there for the
British Columbians who need them,” said
Anne Kang, Parliamentary Secretary for
Seniors and Multiculturalism.

According to the press release, found
on the Ministry of Advanced Education,

Skills and Training website, the flux of
funding (estimated to be $200,000 for
Douglas), will create 16 extra health care
assisting seats in the Health Care Assisting
program at the college.

The certificate program, which is
offered on the Coquitlam campus through
the Faculty of Health
Sciences, is a two-semester
program that trains students —_
to provide “[...]holistic care
to promote the physical,
psychological, social and
spiritual well-being for
people with diverse health
needs,” according to the
program website.

After graduation,
students are eligible
to register with the BC
Care Aide & Community
Health Worker Registry
or complete an additional
semester of training to
receive a Community
Mental Health Worker
Certificate. According to the
Registry website, there are
approximately 35,000 Health
Care Assistants (HCA)
registered and in good
standing with the province,
and the average annual
salary for a full-time HCA is

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Main campus’ locations only. Lowest rates listed. NF = Not Found

Pledge from the province kicks
off Health Care Aid Day

» Health care assisting program adds seats through increased provincial funding

$68,000 or $34.98 per hour.

Additionally, the BC Labour Market
Outlook: 2018 Edition estimates that there
will be 148,400 Health Care and Social
Assistance job openings in the province
over the next decade—in parallel with the
growing number of older adults.

Three other Lower Mainland schools:
Langara College, Kwantlen Polytechnic
University, and Vancouver Community
College, received the same provincial
funding—with a total of 92 new spots
opening for prospective students.