Save GBC Jewellery
George Brown College has announced that they are pausing admissions for three out of four jewellery and gemmology programs as of fall 2025. This announcement has come as a blow to us at FTJCo, and to the wider Canadian jewellery industry. Currently, George Brown is home to the largest jewellery program in North America. It offers a one-year certificate program, a two-year diploma, and a three-year advanced diploma in goldsmithing, and a one-year certificate in gemmology. At present, all programs except the one-year jewellery certificate are slated for suspension.
FTJCo as a company would not exist without the jewellery programs at GBC. One of our co-founders is a GBC jewellery grad, and today 100% of our goldsmithing team and design team are graduates of the three-year Jewellery Arts advanced diploma. To date, we’ve hosted five GBC jewellery interns since 2018, and have gone on to hire three of them (and counting) in full-time positions. Our company is growing, but it is hard for us to imagine how we’ll continue to flourish if our source for highly-trained goldsmiths and designers is suspended. And we’re not the only ones. At a time when Canadians are rallying around our local industries, and are very intentionally shopping for Canadian-made goods it is heartbreaking to see that the Canadian jewellery industry’s primary source for training and new workers is being all but shuttered.
Demand remains high for enrollment in these programs, so why are they suspending them? It comes down to funding. For years the Provincial government of Ontario has been under-funding colleges and universities, pushing them to rely more and more heavily on international student tuition fees to make up the shortfall. But last year the Federal government announced new regulations limiting the number of international student visas, and as a result, this key source for funding has shrunk dramatically. Undoubtedly, the college is in a tough position, but the ongoing health of our Canadian jewellery industry is very much at stake.
What can you do? We are encouraging supporters to contact the President of GBC, Gervan Fearon (gervan.fearon@georgebrown.ca), and Interim Dean of Arts, Design & Information Technology, Ana Rita Morais (anarita.morais@georgebrown.ca) to share your distress at this news, and encourage them to find other ways to keep these programs open. We are also encouraging our community to contact the Minister of Colleges and Universities, Nolan Quinn (minister.mcu@ontario.ca), to express support for increasing funding to colleges so that unique, industry-driving programs like GBC jewellery & gemmology aren’t left on the chopping block. And finally, please reach out to the new Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Rachel Bendayan (rachel.bendayan@parl.gc.ca) to request that she re-evaluates the cap on international student visas, given the detrimental impact this policy is having on our under-funded colleges.
Thank you for supporting this growing Canadian jewellery business, and the Canadian jewellery industry as a whole,
Your friends at FTJCo
Including our GBC Jewellery Arts alumni: Kathleen (2010), Kesha, Kristin and Sydney (2015), Isabel (2018), and Erin (2023)
CityNews reported on the impact of the jewellery program suspension on March 19, and spoke to goldsmiths at FTJCo to learn how this decision will impact Canadian jewellery businesses. Watch their coverage here.
