Catalyst is excited to announce the official launch of a Catalyst team in Canada. While Catalyst has supported key Canadian clients for many years from New Zealand and Australia, the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the demand for Catalyst’s open knowledge services globally, leading to the establishment of a North American operation in Ottawa.
Catalyst Canada already has five full time staff members in country and is involved in a number of Canadian and pan-American projects. Our new Canadian team members are bringing useful new skills and experience to the Catalyst global team.
“Investing in local capability is important to us,” says Don Christie, Managing Director of Catalyst IT, “as is our ability to provide global, round-the-clock support which provides many benefits for our clients.”
As the pandemic took hold in Canada and lockdown began in March, Concordia University in Montreal decided to move to online delivery of high stakes exams. Concordia didn’t want to disadvantage students by not letting them sit exams, so Catalyst was engaged to develop the Concordia OnLine Exams (COLE) platform, and provide support with setting up exams. The project went from the first discussions to being ready for initial exam delivery in only eight weeks.
COLE prioritises student success with ease of navigation, a user-friendly dashboard and a high level of student exam support services. For faculty, COLE eases the role of the teaching corps with options to save time and ease the pressure. By October 2020, 25,000 high stakes exam sittings were delivered through the COLE, with 30-40 exams taking place each week during busy periods.
“Canada is an advanced higher education market," says Matt Porritt, Director and COO of Catalyst IT Canada. "I am grateful to have had the chance to establish relations during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was and still is a difficult time. Through the work that we have done with local clients, it is clear to me that our open source development services are a perfect fit to support local needs. I am looking forward to our next phase - forging new relationships and providing services that deliver high performance e-learning and CMS solutions that support the business goals of our clients, their staff and their learners.”
“Catalyst provides world-class flexible services for learners at universities and polytechnics in New Zealand and internationally,” says Don Christie. The official launch of our Canadian operation reinforces Catalyst IT’s 24/7 managed service support model – providing support any time and anywhere.