Skip to content

Capilano U gets boost in funding for animation students

Capilano University is making room for a few more colourful characters.
CapU animation

Capilano University is making room for a few more colourful characters.

Advanced Education Minister Melanie Mark visited the school’s Bosa Centre for Film and Animation Friday to announce funding to create 50 more student spaces in the 2D and visual effects and 3D animation programs.

Starting in 2019, there will be room for 25 more students, ramping up to 50 in 2020. The province is committing $500,000 annually to expand the program, which the minister said funnels young graduates into good paying jobs.

“We need to invest in giving students the technical and industry training skills that we need,” Mark said. “We hear a lot about STEM – science, technology, engineering and math. Our government wants to take it one step further. We’re hearing a lot about STEAMED – science, tech, engineering, arts, math, entrepreneurship and design.”

Don Perro, co-ordinator for the animation program, welcomed the prospect of taking on more students. This year, there were more than 220 applicants for 44 spots, Perro said.

“We’ve been oversubscribed since we started the program in ’95,” he said.

Tuition for animation programs starts at about $15,000 per year but Perro said the graduates tend to get a quick return on their investment,

“I can’t remember the last time we weren’t over 90 per cent (job) placement,” he said.

Evan Terlesky took time from his last official day of class on Friday, to praise the program at the government funding announcement.

“It was the facilities here that really locked in my decision to attend here. I enrolled in Capilano University’s 2D animation diploma program. I knew that if I worked my butt off here for two years, that my training here would absolutely have me prepared for the industry,” he said.

On Monday, Terlesky is to report to his new job at Titmouse Vancouver, an animation studio that has worked on cartoons like Netflix’s Big Mouth and the wildly popular Rick and Morty.

More than 90,000 people in B.C. work in the entertainment production industry, according to the province.

CapU has long had “poor cousin” status among B.C.’s universities, being the second-lowest funded on a per-student basis by the province for much of its history.

Mark said she was optimistic about Cap’s future but couldn’t say whether the school could expect any increase in its operating grant.

“We’re trying to break down the barriers that were put in the way of students for a really long time and it’s going to take time to recover,” she said.