Given Algoma University’s location in Northern Ontario in Sault Ste. Marie, and Timmins, and our special mission to cultivate cross-cultural learning between Indigenous communities and other communities, our social work program has a specific focus on Indigenous, structural, critical feminist, anti-oppressive, and anti-racism perspectives with northern, rural, remote, Indigenous, and Franco-Ontarian communities. Graduates of our program will be prepared to practice anti-oppressive social work at the entry level with diverse populations in a Canadian context and be introduced to anti-racism perspectives.

Students enrolled in our program will examine a variety of topics and will understand how northern communities significantly differ from urban communities in regards to health services, family and child welfare, and the social welfare system. Our graduates will understand crisis intervention, and how to deal with victims of abuse, including those who were affected by the residential school system in Canada. Unlike any other Ontario university, Algoma U is situated on the former site of the Shingwauk Indian Residential School, and offers special lectures and guest presentations from residential school Survivors. Many fellow classmates may in fact be Survivors. This provides our students with a unique learning experience, and the opportunity for students to better understand oppression, colonization, and self-determination.

Our social work program was developed in consultation with various local employers in Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins, who have cited a growing need for employees. For this reason, our program is designed to help fulfill the need for social workers in northern, rural, remote regions. A degree in social work is highly sought after in the work world. Plus, social workers are found in the broadest range of workplace settings: public agencies, private businesses, hospitals, clinics, schools, nursing homes, private practices, police departments, courts, etc. Social work graduates have an easier time finding employment after graduation than graduates in most other fields.