PR Friend Press Releases

Sept 2, 2009, Toronto – Capitalizing on Toronto’s reputation as an important financial centre with more than 800 corporate head offices, Centennial College is launching a unique graduate certificate program in Total Benefits Management this fall.

The program incorporates courses from the industry-developed Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) curriculum, which is co-sponsored by Dalhousie University and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. Graduates of the eight-month program will have a solid foundation in benefits administration, including defined contribution (DC) and defined benefits (DB) retirement plans, group life and health benefits in a total compensation context.

The program is ideal for foreign-trained professionals who are looking to increase their knowledge of the total benefit sector of the financial services industry, and younger talent looking for upwardly mobile career opportunities in group benefits and group retirement. The curriculum is supplemented with graduate-level instruction in core business skills such as project management and accounting, as well as applied total benefits client interface training in a state-of-the-art learning lab environment.

“The new Certificate in Total Benefits Management bridges Centennial’s commitment to education with the professional accreditation and affiliation offered by the CEBS program, giving graduates the credentials needed to set themselves apart from their peers and advance in their careers,” says David Johnson, Dean of Centennial’s School of Business.

“It’s a good fit for CEBS because of our interest in fostering career awareness and professional affiliation in group benefits and group retirement – rewarding and exciting career paths that are often overlooked in traditional academic models,” says Ann O’Neil, Academic Director of CEBS in Canada.

Graduates earn a Centennial College graduate certificate, which allows them to write the national professional examinations for the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS), Group Benefits Associate (GBA) and Retirement Plans Associate (RPA) designations granted by Dalhousie University and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. Students of the program are eligible for Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) funding.

Find more program details about Toronto degree or contact Program Coordinator James R. McVittie at jmcvittie@centennialcollege.ca or call 416-289-5000, ext. 2639; or Dalhousie University at cancebs@dal.ca or 902-422-7211.

Toronto, August, 2009 – Toronto City Council today endorsed the terms of a Letter of Intent with Centennial College, moving the college one step closer in its efforts to redevelop the historic Guild Inn property in Scarborough.

Centennial can now enter into binding lease negotiations with City of Toronto staff to finalize a 76-year sub-lease agreement for the 6.8-acre footprint of the original hotel site, situated within an 80-acre lakeside park that the City of Toronto leases from the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority.

“The Guild Inn project epitomizes Centennial’s commitment to Scarborough. As part of our vision to transform lives and communities through learning, it gives us another way to contribute to the economic, educational and cultural life of our community, while preserving and revitalizing a beloved landmark,” says Ann Buller, President and CEO, Centennial College. “If we have found a way to save it, everyone – the college, the city and the community – will enjoy the benefits.”

Centennial has proposed to redevelop the site as a new hotel and conference centre complex. As part of this project, the college intends to restore the historic Bickford Residence, a portion of which will house the research and learning resources of its Culture and Heritage Institute. It is expected to operate on a commercially viable basis while providing training opportunities for students from Centennial’s School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culture and related college degree programs.

City Council’s decision on August 5 marks the culmination of a long and intense negotiation process that balances the commercial interests of prospective hotel developers and operators against the long-term civic and ecological value of the surrounding park. The resulting agreement is strongly supported by the surrounding community, Councillor Paul Ainslie and colleagues.

Centennial College’s unique corporate status and position of trust in the community makes the college an ideal choice to build upon the heritage and cultural properties of the site in the spirit of its visionary owners, Rosa and Spencer Clark. Although Centennial is not self-financing the redevelopment, the college is able to create a special purpose corporation to contract with private-sector hotel developers and operators, while separately anchoring a land lease agreement with the City of Toronto to secure the site.

Address:
Centennial College,
P.O. Box 631, Station A
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M1K 5E9

Phone: 416-289-5000, ext. 7142
Email: mtoljagic@centennialcollege.ca