The provincial government’s approval has come through for the merger of Cumberland College and Parkland College. Cumberland has facilities in Melfort, Nipawin and Tisdale and Parkland is in Canora, Esterhazy, Fort Qu’Appelle, Kamsack, Melville and Yorkton.

Interim President and CEO of the merged colleges, Alison Dubreuil, says the colleges have been operating as a coalition since 2019.

A news released from the two colleges says the merger positions them to be more robust and provide the opportunity to offer more programming to recruit and retain more students.

Over the next five months the colleges will prepare for the official merge, which will be a phased approach.

The name and logo of the new merged education institution hasn’t been released yet.