Red River Polytechnic looks to expand after MITT takeover

Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter and Morgan Modjeski, Winnipeg Free Press

Red River College Polytechnic is celebrating an enrolment bump and eyeing new high school partnerships as part of its merger with a longtime competitor.

For the first time, nearly 400 students attended their first day of RRC Polytech in Winnipeg’s south end on Tuesday.

The new campus is outfitted with two school logos — a new red one and a blue design belonging to the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology.

“It feels great to be a part of history,” said Dom McLaren, an 18-year-old who is enrolled in RRC Polytech’s network and systems administration program. “I’m definitely going to enjoy my time.”

McLaren said the recent expansion, including the takeover of MITT headquarters at 130 Henlow Bay, is a positive one.

“Unlike the Notre Dame and Exchange District campuses, which are a little bit on the confusing side, the south campus is a bit smaller and it’s less confusing,” he said.

RRC Polytech’s newest campus — its third in Winnipeg and ninth in Manitoba — is made up of the Fultz, Henlow and Pembina buildings.

The properties were transferred to RRC Polytech after the province announced it was closing MITT because its model was no longer financially viable in the wake of new federal caps on international student enrolment.

Following a review of course offerings, it was decided that RRC Polytech would continue 19 programs. Hairstyling and pharmacy technician are among its new training options in the south end.

President Fred Meier said roughly 50 positions have been filled to deliver 14 programs that launched on the new campus Tuesday.

“The majority of instructors that we hired were former MITT employees or instructors,” Meier said, adding he expects there will be additional hiring phases.

Preliminary registration data suggests there’s going to be a “one-time bump” in new enrolment across credential programs as a result of the merger, he said.

That figure is up 16 per cent compared to this time last year. Domestic enrolment is up three per cent overall.

At the same time, there will be about 500 fewer international students, each of whom pay roughly three times the tuition as their Canadian peers who attend RRC Polytech this year.

In the face of ongoing financial challenges, Meier said he’s interested in scaling apprenticeship programs that are in high demand.

He said he’s also keen to collaborate with high schools and explore making the transition from Grade 12 to RRC Polytech “seamless.”

The 2025-26 school year marks the last time MITT will partner with school divisions to offer tuition-free vocational and technical programs to teenagers.

Starting next fall, RRC Polytech will work directly with the Pembina Trails, Red River Valley and Louis Riel school board offices.

RRC Polytech put its logo on MITT headquarters, located in an industrial park south of Linden Ridge, ahead of its spring information session on the grounds.

“We will certainly keep the MITT signs up while MITT students are still attending classes at the South Winnipeg Campus,” RRC Polytech spokesperson Lauren Parsons said.

MITT undertook a multi-year rebrand project as its administrative team was grappling with recruitment challenges and revenue. A freedom of information request shows the school spent upwards of $130,000 on what it advertised as “a full-blown glow-up” between 2023 and 2025.

MITT released a new logo and colour palette in June 2025, seven months before the province announced it was shutting down.

Charles Asis said he’s still making sense of the changes.

“It’s crazy MITT is going to be gone,” the 26-year-0ld said, noting its main campus was a landmark.

Had Asis enrolled in the hairstyling program based out of Henlow Bay last September, he would have been an MITT student instead of an RRC Polytech attendee.

“Even the teachers, they’re still getting used to it,” he said.

While noting there’s a new look, new programs and new staff in south Winnipeg, RRC Polytech’s president said one thing hasn’t changed — first day jitters.

Meier said he anticipates MITT will graduate the last of its students before the end of the 2027 calendar year.

Students who are part of the “teach out” — meaning they are finishing up an MITT program that was underway when the shutdown was announced — begin classes next week.

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