Robertson College’s vision began in 1911 after founder M.I. Robertson decided to emigrate from Scotland
to live with her sister and brother-in-law in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In Edinburgh, Scotland, Mrs.
Robertson worked in the city hall. It was thought that Mrs. Robertson was married and had a husband who
had been a ship’s sea captain, but there is no proof of this as Mrs. Robertson never mentioned it. Back
then it was not proper protocol to ask, or to speculate private matters. Nonetheless Mrs. Robertson came
to Canada with her young daughter.
When she arrived to Canada she lived in a small shack with her daughter, sister and brother-in-law near the
railway. She and her sister then started a court reporting business by the name of Dominion Stenographic
Service. Part of her work was taking in “apprentice” based students, Mrs. Robertson, her sister and
employers noticed the need and the quality of apprentices that they were putting forth. It was in 1919 that
the judicial courts began to hire their own shorthand stenographers; which helped evolve the business into
a shorthand school.
It was noted in the 1921 Saskatoon Henderson Directory that Mrs. Robertson began to advertise her
business as Dominion Business College. In 1923 it was then advertised as the Robertson Shorthand and
Secretarial School when her sister and husband moved to British Columbia.
It is believed that Mrs. Robertson saw education as a way to help young people, as she had the skills and
tools to over see this. Mrs. Robertson documents during one of the Saskatchewan Minimum Wage Board
Meetings of the concern of young girls coming to the city seeking employment. Many employers were not
willing to pay well, and many of these young girls were employed as waitresses, thus long hours. The girls
needed a place to sleep, and therefore slept on the floors of their place of employment and still had no
money for winter clothing or basic sustenance.
Mrs. Robertson stopped teaching in the school in 1942 where she handed off her role to Mrs. Lepine who
later purchased the college. Mrs. Robertson died in 1958.
The school then evolved into the Saskatoon Robertson Career College, but closed its doors in 1990, as a
result only leaving the Winnipeg Campus which was started in around 1980 when Lynne Oliver purchased it.
The school was then purchased by Don Thomas in 1985; who expanded the school curriculum and made major
restructuring changes to Robertson Career College including expanding to different campuses and programs
in the Prairies. In 1993, the college was rebranded to Robertson College.
In 2001, it was purchased by Midwestern School of Business and Technology in Winnipeg and has
since become a multi-campus college. The College was moved from Portage Avenue in Winnipeg to
the historic Exchange District at 265 Notre Dame Avenue. The College shifted its focus to
Healthcare,
Business and Information Technology programs.
In 2004, Robertson College added an additional campus in Calgary, Alberta. The campus initially focused
on training Pharmacy Technicians and over the past few years has expanded its focus to
Business and Healthcare.
As well in 2004, the college started its first international partnership in China. In China, the Live-In
Caregiver program is taught to help Chinese students immigrate to Canada. Since 2004, Robertson College has
added other training partnerships in Senegal, Morocco, Mauritius and the United
Kingdom.
Recently, an online training division for Robertson College was created. In early 2009,
the college saw that there was a need to offer online training to students who are not
able to attend a traditional “bricks & mortar” setting. The Online Training Division,
iRobertson College, provides students the opportunity to pursue their career goals
through distance and part-time education.
Are you ready to take the next step?
Call our admissions team to learn more about our diploma programs:
(204) 800-7919 (Winnipeg Campus)
(403) 621-1210 (Calgary Campus)
(204) 725-7200 (Brandon Campus)
(888) 783-8057 (Online Campus)