Pop Up Farmers Market in Richmond

There is a great pop up farmers market to visit in Richmond that brings the chance to find some fresh vegetables and also help students at the same time in the BC area. This pop up farmers market is a little different because this produce is grown by students.

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Local produce sold at the pop up farmers market in Richmond is sustainably grown by students from KPU Farm Schools. Those KPU BC Farm Schools are the Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School and Richmond Farm School and the food grown is then sold at the market.

These KPU farm schools offer multi-month programs that give students a great foundation of learning what goes into farming. They get to be educated by some of the best, learning from true food-growing experts on the principals and practices that go into regenerative farming.

The students have been busy growing things like kale, chard, romaine, scallions, broccoli heads, beets, and more.

A visit to the pop up farmers market is a great way to support the students and get a chance to try some delicious, fresh, local BC produce as well.

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Where to Find hands on farmer training programs in BC

During the pandemic many more people became interested in farming, growing, and starting their own gardens right at home.

There is widespread interest for growing and supporting local food systems, as well as embracing regenerative farming practices that can help to bring value to the community as well.

This is one place to find that education for those in BC who are interested in learning more about farming, and for those who want to get hands-on experience with growing food and all that might be involved with farming today.

Buy Local, Fresh, BC Produce

The pop up farmers market associated with the farm schools is a great way to show support for those students and to get access to a good selection of local produce as well.

You can browse their social media page for more updates on those pop up farmers markets.

Photo by Greta Hoffman on Pexels.com

Subscription Boxes for Quality Produce in BC

The pop up market isn’t the only place to gain access to the great food that they might be growing. There are also produce box subscriptions that you can find which are associated with the farm school, these services offer a multi-week subscription for small, medium, or large boxes of produce.

The subscriptions for BC produce are another option for accessing some quality local BC food and you don’t have to drive all the way to Richmond to get it as they’ve got different pick-up locations.

Canadian Schools Not Back to Pre-Pandemic Levels Yet For Enrolment

The rate of foreign students enrolling in Canadian schools isn’t back to the pre-pandemic levels just yet that they had been seeing in some areas. In Okanagan, the year-end deficit has increased to $3.9 million because of lower than expected enrolment of foreign students.

This decline in international enrollment is expected to have a significant financial toll on postsecondary institutions around the country and throughout the province of BC. These foreign students contribute hundreds of millions in student fees and more, and this means that schools will see millions in deficits.

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International Student Drought

It is anticipated that COVID-19 could inflict some serious long-term damage on the education sector with the significant decrease in international students enrolling. It still might be too early for some to tell how much their enrolment will be impacted. There is a lot of optimism for things to eventually return more to normal as Canada is still one of the top study destinations in the world for international students.

With the COVID-19 restrictions that are still in place surrounding travel though it isn’t going to be as easy as it was pre-pandemic for those international students to go about their schooling just the same. In each province around Canada it is estimated that these international students bring in tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions to the economy.

The pandemic brought on academic challenges, health-care concerns for international students, and travel uncertainty as well.

While the pandemic restrictions have made it more costly for some international students we shouldn’t expect these circumstances to last or the lower foreign enrolment rates to stay down forever.

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Back in 2019 it was estimated that some more than 600k international students were studying in Canada at various levels, at the end of the year in 2020 it was around 530k international students in Canada, it fell by about 17%. That drop from enrollment might be easing though and a rebound might not be far off as some postsecondary institutions have reported an uptick again in international student enrolment.

Despite the pandemic difficulties and potential tuition costs rising it looks like 2021 international student growth at some Canadian institutions is up roughly 10%.

The high quality postsecondary institutions around the country don’t have a difficult time at attracting interest from international students around the world with Canada still being one of the top learning destinations for students to go with.

International Student Decline: Schools in BC Losing Millions

Last year during the pandemic we saw that many industries faced a crisis, international travel came to a stop and the border still hasn’t been opened since. Right now travel is still restricted for essential purposes only and people are highly encouraged to stay in their own communities.

During the pandemic the number of international students in Canada decreased and that meant that schools around BC were going to lose millions in revenue.

We have seen a decrease of tens of thousands of international students around Canada through the pandemic.

Thanks to COVID-19 overall there has been more than a 30 per cent drop in international students compared to the previous year. Foreign enrollment in school has fallen 17 per cent and that means that BC schools and schools in other provinces are going to be struggling without that money coming in from students.

There is millions of dollars that schools in Canada are going to be missing out on with those numbers down.

From issues with paying bills, worries over travel rules restrictions on international travel, there are a variety of reasons why there is a decline in international students in Canada.

Fewer International Students in Canada Means Less Revenue For Schools

With vaccination efforts expanding in the country and hopes of overcoming the 3rd wave in BC and COVID-19 crisis in other regions, there is hope that we might see a normal summer or fall this year. After that things could resume with the border opening up more for travel, and those COVID-19 restrictions being eased. It might not be very long then before international student numbers start to grow again.

They’ve seen the largest declines for international students in the smallest cities, between 20 to 30 per cent for international student enrollment dropping in Canada.This could have significant implications for BC and other regions, for the schools that will be facing a cash crunch as a result of that decline.

International student enrollment rates have declined at universities around the world through the pandemic.

To deal with the decline other cost-cutting actions might be taken, like looking at outsourcing services in schools, or making potential layoffs, among other actions.

Who knows how long they might face the decline or what will be implemented to deal with it. Though some officials have already insisted that we won’t see layoffs as a result of the decline in international students in Canada.

There is billions in revenue coming in yearly from international students and that is going to be missed as this funding helps fuel a variety of programs in BC and around the country. Universities in Canada are facing a drastic drop in international enrollment but that isn’t going to last forever.

The number of international students in BC right now is below pre-pandemic levels and some districts have lost out on millions in revenue because of that drop in international student enrollment.

This lack of funding is eventually going to leak into core programing and this is at the very least highlighting the vulnerability of the current model right now.

UBC Grad Students Looking for Quarantine Option at School

The government previously imposed mandatory quarantine isolation for those coming to Canada with a growing list of hotels that are approved for quarantine, That list of approved venues has also increased from the original venue options that had been first initially approved for quarantine.

For those who were arriving they had to quarantine at places like Coast Vancouver Airport hotel, Abercorn Inn Vancouver Airport hotel, Quality Hotel Airport South Hill and others.

Travel is still heavily restricted for those who are traveling for non-essential purposes, though we could see this change in coming months.

There is growing pressure to open the Canadian border with the U.S. as it has been closed for almost a year now.

UBC Grad Student Society Looking for Alternative Quarantine Options

The UBC Graduate Student Society, along with other graduate student groups, recently called on the government to allow for international graduate students to be able to access an alternative quarantine plan.

The hope is that they would be able to stay at university residences rather than having to stay at those approved hotels on the quarantine list.

For some grad students the multi-day stay at one of those approved hotels could end up costing hundreds or thousands of dollars, and it is a financial cost that many cannot afford.

If they have to stay at those hotels it will just make life harder for them, as it has also been difficult for those non-students going through the costly process as well.

The student groups are also reportedly hoping that potentially down the road any change might apply to more students as well, that student residences on the UBC campus would be sufficient enough.

But as B.C. health officials have recently stated, we might see those restrictions start to ease up in the coming weeks and a ‘new normal’ start to show itself. This could mean seeing more travel options come about, a reversal in quarantine requirements, opening of the border, or more in-person gatherings etc, among other possible changes to come.

An Easier Way Up To SFU With The Burnaby Mountain Gondola

There has been discussion for years about a gondola eventually coming to Simon Fraser University. There is a lot of student traffic that comes up from the bus or skytrain and having that gondola would make it a lot easier during the winter months, rather than having the bus climb up the steep hill.

The gondola has been painted as a more efficient transportation option up the mountain and to the university. It is a plan that many are in support of and if you are one of those people then you too can show your support for the project.

How To Show Your Support For Burnaby Mountain Gondola Project

You can peacefully voice your support with the Burnaby city council who would be behind the changes moving forward. It’s suggested that those in favor of the Burnaby Mountain Gondola share their stories about transportation with the mayor or council in the region. This is easy to do online.

This could include why you might be in support of the project or how you have experienced transportation so far as a student etc. If there are enough people who are in favor of the project then that could do more good in the way of helping it to move forward.

Translink previously conducted a study which allegedly discovered there was a compelling case for a future with a Burnaby Mountain Gondola becoming a real thing. Though it has been talked about for years now, there is reason to think that this could happen one day and eventually become a viable alternative to the bus traffic that goes up and down the mountain with thousands of students every day.

Show Your Support With #BurnabyGondola Tag

If you are interested in seeing this project move forward then share your story and solidarity with others. Others who are in favor of the project have been encouraged to start sharing their support under the tags #BurnabyGondola and tweeting SFU, Translink, and the CityofBurnaby directly, with their various transportation stories.