John Abbott College

History

The college was accredited in 1970 and opened the next year. It is housed in early 20th-century buildings on a 1,600 acres (650 ha) campus shared with McGill University's Macdonald College. The college is named after John Abbott, prime minister, and former Mayor of Montreal who owned a country estate in nearby Senneville. He is most remembered for his role in the Pacific Scandal, the political corruption case which brought down the government of Sir John A. Macdonald in 1873.

The college originally planned to build a new campus in Pointe-Claire next to Fairview Pointe-Claire. It "temporarily" moved into buildings on the Macdonald College campus that had been vacated the previous year by McGill's Faculty of Education when it moved to its downtown campus. Additional temporary facilities were rented on Hymus Boulevard in Kirkland, known as the Kirkland Campus. A shuttle bus connected the two campuses. In 1973, the college decided to consolidate the college in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue by constructing a new building (subsequently named the Casgrain Centre) and renovating the existing buildings. The Kirkland Campus closed in December 1979, and the construction and renovations were completed in 1981. It remained the last college in Quebec renting its campus until 2002, when it bought its buildings from the University. McGill University still owns and operates the majority of the land on campus.

Campus

Housed in century-old renovated buildings in historic Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, the college has been long recognized as a prominent landmark in Montreal's West Island community. Characterized by its tiled roofs and red brick buildings, the college is situated on the shores of Lake Saint-Louis. With its distinctive architecture, trees and rolling green lawns in a charming semi-rural setting, the college's campus has earned a reputation for being one of the most beautiful in the public system. There are a total of ten buildings on campus, all of which are connected to each other in some fashion (with the exception of Brittain Hall).

Brittain Hall

Brittain Hall houses the Continuing Education centre of the college, and honours the memory of Dr. W. H. Brittain, former Vice Principal of Macdonald College. It was a men's residence until 1981. Most of the building remains closed due to severe damage caused by a fire in 1981.

Casgrain Centre

The Casgrain Centre houses the sports complex, as well as the theatre and art studios of the college, and is named in honour of Thérèse Casgrain, a former Canadian senator who was an advocate for the women's suffrage movement. The Casgrain building also houses a Tim Hortons. The building also houses a large student lounge along with the student Agora, an indoor multi-use area for hosting trade fairs, musical performances, movie screenings, exhibitions, and other student-related events and activities.

Herzberg building

The Herzberg building is the central building on campus, housing classrooms and labs for a variety of subjects including math, chemistry, physics, biology, and nursing. The building is also home to essential student services, such as the college library, the Oval coffeehouse, offices for various clubs, the Print Services office, as well as offices for both the Director General and the Academic Dean. Other student services located in the Herzberg building include the Aboriginal Student Resource Centre, Academic Advising, Counselling services, the Cultural Diversity office, the Employment Centre, the Financial Assistance office, the Health and Wellness Centre, the Learning Centre, Legal Advisory Services, the Registrar's office, Special Needs Services, Student Activities, Student Services, Student Success Services, and the University and Career Information Centre. The building is named in honour of Gerhard Herzberg, a pioneering German Canadian physicist and physical chemist who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1971.

Hochelaga building

The Hochelaga building houses classrooms for a variety of courses, including history, economics, political science, humanities, philosophy, religion, psychology and sociology, as well as program-specific courses for business administration, commerce, correctional intervention, information and library technologies, and police technology programs. The building was given the native name for the city of Montreal, in honour of Canada's Aboriginal peoples.

Penfield building

The Penfield building houses classrooms for English, creative arts, French, foreign language and geography courses. It also houses a number of professional programs, including the computer science, engineering technologies, Pre-hospital emergency care and publication design and hypermedia technology. The building houses an auditorium, as well as the offices of the Student Union (SUJAC) and the John Abbott College Faculty Association (JACFA). The Pedagogical Computer Centre (PCC) is located on the third floor of the building, home to labs with the necessary materials to conduct courses requiring student computer use. The building is named after Dr. Wilder Graves Penfield, a famous American born Canadian neurosurgeon.

Anne-Marie Edward Science building

The recently built Anne-Marie Edward Science Building is the new location of the Science and Health Technologies departments. It is located in between Herzberg building and Stewart building. The AME building is distinctively modern when compared to the rest of the campus. For comparison, Herzberg has a total of 5 floors, including the basement, while the Edward has a total of 7 floors. The building contains 33 laboratories and 11 classrooms, along with over 50 staff offices. The building is solely reserved for the school's biology, biopharmaceutical, chemistry, nursing, physics, and prehospital emergency care departments. The building's name commemorates Polytechnique victim and John Abbott College alumna Anne-Marie Edward.

Stewart Hall

Stewart Hall is home to a small number of classrooms, the college bookstore, the college cafeteria, as well as administrative offices and the college boardroom. The building honours the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Stewart, benefactors to Macdonald College.

Stewart East

Connected to the eastern side of the Stewart Apartments, Stewart East is home to classrooms for the dental hygiene program and the college's own dental clinic.

Jones Building

Home to the Geography and Geosciences, the Jones building was once accessible via the Hochelaga building. However, recent changes has resulted in the building only being accessible from outdoors. The second floor contains offices used by the football program.

Programs

Pre-university programs usually consist of four semesters (2 years), while career programs usually consist of six (3 years).

Composition

Over 6000 students are enrolled in the Day Division and about 2100 are in the Continuing Education Division. The college primarily serves the western end of the Montreal metropolitan area, although it also has students from other parts of Quebec, the rest of Canada and approximately one hundred international students.

Stewart Apartments

The Stewart Apartments are co-educational residences for full-time students attending John Abbott College. They are the only student residences in the Montreal area that are directly operated by a public English-language public college.

Student Union

The Student Union of John Abbott College (SUJAC) promotes and defends students' rights and interests. SUJAC is the official liaison between the students and the college, representing students on committees, organizing student events, and overseeing the allocation of certain student fees for the various clubs that operate throughout the college. SUJAC works on behalf of students and informs them on relevant issues and college matters. While every John Abbott College student is a member of the Student Union, SUJAC consists of the Executive and Congress.

Student life

The college community offers a variety of extracurricular activities and clubs. The college operates its own radio station, CSKY radio, giving students the opportunity to explore the world of broadcasting. Student newspaper Bandersnatch has been published biweekly since the college's establishment in 1971.

Athletics

The Casgrain Sport Centre is the home to the John Abbott College Islanders and Lady Islanders who compete in basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, baseball, soccer, rugby, swimming, football, tennis, cross country running and hockey.

Sports teams

John Abbott College has several sports teams named Islanders. The baseball team The Islanders finished second in the 2006 Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association's Northern Conference. The men's soccer team John Abbott College Islanders won semi-final in the 2000 provincial championship in overtime. The John Abbott Football team also boasted their best season in the college football league since winning the 2002 Bowl D'Or in 2007.

Media events

Notable alumni

Notable staff