A review of Geological Engineering education in Canada was conducted to assess the effectiveness of current undergraduate university curricula. The courses taught by each of the five universities currently offering Geological Engineering in the English language were assessed for content. In addition, the responses to surveys distributed by email across the country were compiled and assessed. The following conclusions can be drawn from this work:
Geological Engineering enrolments are low, must increase to meet expected future demand and can be bolstered in a number of ways.
There are three main pillars of Geological Engineering education related to Earth materials: Soil, Water and Rock.
Only 25% or less or each university's curriculum is focussed on the three pillars, with strongly differing proportions of each subject depending upon the university's research strengths.
Courses in the three pillar areas or in Engineering Geology were judged by survey respondents to be the most useful courses by far, and are the subject of the top five job categories.
Geological Engineering education in Canada is at a cross-roads at the start of the new millennium. This is primarily due to limited student enrolments and the financial pressures placed on universities and secondary school education. In Canada, three Geological Engineering programs have closed in recent years, leaving only eight, while two others have recently successfully defended themselves against threatened loss of engineering accreditation. Even though Canadian Universities deliver programs that provide an excellent foundation in Geological Engineering and have students graduating with excellent job opportunities, enrolment levels in most Geological Engineering programs continue to be far below those in other engineering disciplines. There is concern that increased demand for Geological Engineers will not be balanced by sufficient numbers of graduates from engineering geology programs.
