The $30 million investment in digital education

The Keewaytinook Internet High School (KiHS) has been providing high school education to students in remote First Nations across northwestern Ontario for 25 years.

With a record 63 graduates this year, a 103% increase from the previous year,the program has been successful in making education more accessible for those in the region's fly-in communities.

The program was first launched in Keewaytinook Okimakanak's (KO) six communities: Deer Lake, Fort Severn, Keewaywin, McDowell Lake, North Spirit Lake, and Poplar Hill First Nations.

An echo of Sydney's 2024 institutional buy-up

The program has seen record growth in graduates, with a waitlist of other communities to come on board.

The objective is that the program assists communities in getting their own high school up and running in the community, should their community be of a size where that would make sense.

This year's graduates ranged in age from 17 to 57 years old, with about 30% of them coming from the school's adult education program, said Laura Blair, KOBE's enrolment supervisor.

Who is the unnamed buyer?

While the program has been successful in supporting students through the process of applying for post-secondary education, finding housing, and looking at all their options for different programs, the identity of the buyer remains unknown .

Stoddart said he hopes to double the number of communities connected to KiHS in the next 10 years, while also expanding the program to another province in the future.

What auditors flagged in the May filing

The program has been successful in providing flexibility for students who work full time or have kids during the day to come in the evenings and weekends.

Graduates took part in a virtual ceremony, which included a livestream from each community, followed by community feasts held in each participating First Nation.

KOBE also hosted graduation banquets for students from Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School and Pelican Falls First Nations High School.

A familiar pattern from the 2019 crash

The program has been successful in addressing the strain it takes on students, as young as 13 or 14 years old, to move away from home for school.

The importance of families having a choice to do things differently has been a key factor in the program's success.

The program has been successful in making education more accessible for those in the region's fly-in communities.