Fall and Winter 2020-2021 Updates

New Protocols for the Winter Semester at Heritage

In light of the Ontario-wide stay-at-home order and other recently heightened measures, Heritage College & Seminary announces new protocols for the winter semester.

Posted January 13, 2021

On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, the Government of Ontario has declared the beginning of the province’s second state-of-emergency. In this announcement, public health measures have tightened more, including an Ontario-wide stay-at-home order effective Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 12:01am – requiring everyone to remain at home with exceptions for essential purposes.

Given the new restrictions and the stay-at-home order, Heritage College & Seminary has had to make significant changes to our protocols and how the campus will operate under these announced measures.

Heritage has made great efforts to create a safe learning environment for our students this winter semester, while striving to comply with the directions given by our governing officials and to show love for our neighbour.

The Heritage Community Centre will be restricted until further notice.

Effective Thursday, January 14, the Student Centre, Bean, Study Spaces overlooking the Gym and Chapel will be closed to student access.
Heritage will continue to re-evaluate how the Community Centre is used throughout the semester.

The Heritage Library will suspend in-person services and move to full pick-up service.

Books can be ordered from Heather Okrafka: hokrafka@heritagecs.edu and you will be notified when they are available for pickup.
All book requests will need to be made the day before pick-up, and books will be made available for pick-up from 1:00pm – 4:00pm.
The book drop will be open all the time for returns.
Scanning of material can also be arranged by contacting Heather Okrafka.

The Cafeteria will move to a take-out model.

All meals will need to be picked up in the Cafeteria and taken back to your residence rooms to enjoy.

Gatherings will be limited to five people outdoors.

Under the provincial guidelines, social gatherings can still occur outdoors with a maximum of 5 people, while maintaining physical distancing.

Bookstore and Counselling Services will still operate.

The Bookstore will still provide pick-up options for students. Please contact the Bookstore for more details.
Counselling services will still operate at Heritage following the provincial guidelines.

Off-Campus Students may only come on campus for essential services.

Essential services include: Library Pick-Up, Take-Out Food Services, Counselling Services.
Seminary Students will be able to utilize the Heritage Library using the new pick-up format.

Ice Rink

Weather permitting, the Ice Rink at Heritage will have a maximum capacity of 5 skaters.
Recreational skating and skills practice are permitted.
Hockey or Shinny will not be allowed under provincial guidelines.

Residence Students will be provided with a discounted fee for the Winter 2021 Semester.

Given the changes to living on campus, Heritage will be providing all on-campus, residence students with a 25% discount on this semester’s fees – equalling $525.
If you feel like you are unable to stay, there will be a partial refund of 75% provided.
Students who decide to leave will be making the decision to leave for the remainder of the semester.
Residence students will have until the morning of Thursday, January 14 to inform Student Services on their decision.

Staff and Faculty of Heritage are required to work from home.

In light of the stay-at-home order, all staff and faculty of Heritage will be required to work from home, unless they are given permission from their supervisor.

We continue to look forward to seeing how God will work in the lives of our entire Heritage community as we begin the winter semester at the college and seminary.

Heritage off-campus student tests positive for COVID-19

The case has been deemed a low risk to the Heritage community and the student is now isolating.

Posted January 8, 2021

Heritage College & Seminary has been informed that one of our off-campus students has recently tested positive for COVID-19.

For more information, please visit DiscoverHeritage.ca/COVID19.

Campus Operations During the Provincial Shutdown

Heritage College & Seminary releases more details about how the campus will operate at the beginning of the winter semester during the Province-wide Shutdown in Ontario.

Posted January 7, 2021

As we approach the beginning of the winter semester on Monday, January 11, Heritage College & Seminary wanted to provide more details surrounding campus operations, student services and how the school will operate while under the ongoing provincial shutdown.

Heritage continues to prioritize the safety and health of our community of as we continue to equip men and women for life and ministry. As a result, we have established new guidelines for the campus that will be in place for the remainder of the shutdown – scheduled to end on Saturday, January 23.

All winter semester classes will begin through online delivery

In keeping with the requirements of the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities, all college classes for the winter semester will start online until the scheduled end of the 28-day lockdown period. For more information, please see our update from December 21, 2020.

The Heritage Community Centre

The Heritage Community Centre will be open for regular hours starting January 10, 2021. During the time of the Shutdown, furniture has been rearranged and room capacities have been adjusted in order to provide a safe space for students to use as they begin their studies this semester.

Students are asked that all furniture within the Heritage Community Centre remain in the places they have been placed and are not to be moved.

Student Centre: New Capacity – 10 People
- This area will now include the main sitting area of the Student Centre and the seating located in the hallway leading to the Chapel.
- The Pool Table will be available to use but will be limited to games between two people.
- The Ping Pong Table has now been relocated to the Gym and will also be limited to games between two people.

Desks Overlooking the Gym – New Capacity – 6 People
- Six, physically distanced spaces have been designated for studying purposes.

The Bean: New Capacity – 10 People
- The Bean will remain open during the provincial shutdown.
- The booths located in the Bean will be limited to two people, one person on each bench.

Chapel: New Capacity – 10 People
- The space can be used for personal study and practice space for Music & Worship Studies students.
- The Prayer Room will also remain open with a room capacity of 2 people.

Cafeteria & Gym
- Seating options will be available for students in both the Cafeteria and the Gym.
- When the Gym is being used for dining, the capacity of the space will be 30 people.
- The Gym will have a maximum capacity of 10 people when not being used during meals. There will be no team sports in the Gym during the time of the Shutdown.

Fitness Centre
- The Fitness Centre will continue to be closed during the shutdown.

Recording Studio – New Capacity – 6 People
- There will be a limit of only two people inside each room in the Studio.
- If you are singing, the vocalist must be the only one in the room and can only use one of the tracking rooms.

Academic Building

Bookstore
- The Heritage Bookstore will be open for limited hours during the month of January and students are encouraged to order their textbooks through the online bookstore and select the “Pick-up at Bookstore” option.

Library
- The Heritage Library will be open to enrolled students, staff, and faculty from Monday to Thursday from 11:30am to 4:30pm and 6:30pm to 9:30pm, Friday from 11:30am to 4:30pm, and Saturday from 11:00am to 2:00pm.

Off-Campus Students

Off-Campus College students are welcome to continue to use the Student Centre and Library over the course of the shutdown while abiding by all of the campus protocols and new room capacities.
Seminary students will still be allowed access to the Heritage Library with their provided Heritage access card. Students are encouraged to contact our Administrative Office to receive an access card at admin@heritagecs.edu.

All protocols will continue to be in effect

As the winter semester begins, all campus protocols will remain active, including:
- You must wear an appropriately fitting mask inside of all campus buildings, with the exception of your residence room.
- You must swipe in and out of all campus buildings using the swipe card issued by the main office. When you use the swipe card, you are confirming that you are feeling well and are not displaying any of the common symptoms of COVID-19. Please use the Ontario COVID-19 Self-Assessment found at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/self-assessment/.
- You must sanitize your hands when you enter and leave all campus buildings and keep a physical distance of 6 feet or 2 metres.
- Learn more about the Province-wide Shutdown at https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-provincewide-shutdown.

We are looking forward to welcoming our students back to Heritage for the winter semester. We are praying that as we begin this semester online that God will continue to teach and equip our college and seminary students through all they learn this semester.

Heritage community member tested positive for COVID-19

The case has been deemed low risk to the College & Seminary community and the staff member has recovered and confirmed the end of their isolation period.

Posted January 5, 2021

Heritage College & Seminary has been informed that one of our staff members tested positive for COVID-19 over the Christmas break.

After following the guidelines given from the Region of Waterloo Public Health, the staff member has now recovered and confirmed with Public Health the end of their quarantine period on Saturday, January 2, 2021.

To read more, please visit DiscoverHeritage.ca/COVID19.

Heritage Announces Changes to the Beginning of the Winter Semester

With the announcement of a province-wide shutdown in Ontario, Heritage College & Seminary has had to adjust how its moving forward with the beginning of the winter semester.

Posted December 21, 2020

On December 21, the Government of Ontario announced the beginning of a province-wide shutdown that will begin on Saturday, December 26. With Heritage College & Seminary residing in the area represented by the Region of Waterloo Public Health, the shutdown will be in effect for 28 days and will end on Saturday, January 23, 2021.

With the announcement of this lockdown, Heritage has had to make adjustments to how we will begin our upcoming winter semester starting on Monday, January 11, 2021.

All winter semester classes will begin through online delivery.

In keeping with the requirements of the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities, all college classes for the winter semester will start online.
College students will be sent information on how to access their courses online in the new year.
All classes will be delivered online until the end of the 28-day lockdown period, meaning in-class instruction would resume Monday, January 25, 2021.
Limited exceptions may be made based on the Ministry’s guidance for the following practical Music & Worship Studies classes:
- Worship Leadership
- Music Fundamentals II
- Applied Lessons

Heritage will be consulting with the Ministry and will pass on further details to students enrolled in the courses listed above.

Residence at Heritage will remain open.

Current residence students will be welcome to move back to residence beginning on Saturday, January 9, 2021.
Students will be able to attend all classes online to begin the semester.
All existing residence protocols will remain in place including:
- Masks will be required in the hallways, laundry room, and lounges located in the residence buildings.
- Masks are not required while inside your own apartment.
- Bedrooms will only be for the use of the student assigned to the room.
- Impact Groups will continue with the opportunity to meet in common rooms while wearing a mask and maintaining physical distancing.

Campus Services

The Library and Cafeteria will remain open to serve our student body.
Fitness Centre and Gymnasium will remain closed.

We look forward to welcoming our residence students back to campus on January 9, and we pray and hope that you will have an enjoyable, safe Christmas season.

Heritage Revises the Starting Date of the Winter Term

Posted December 3, 2020

Heritage College & Seminary has officially made the decision to change the starting date of our winter term to January 11^th, 2021. With the move, please note the following important academic dates for the upcoming Winter 2021 Semester:

First Day of College & Seminary Classes: Monday, January 11^th
Reading Week: February 15^th -19^th
Final Date for Withdrawal from Winter Term Courses: February 26^th
Last Day of College Classes: April 15^th
Last Day of Seminary Classes and Exams: April 22^nd
College Examination Period: April 19^th – 23^rd
Graduation: Saturday, May 1^st

Residence staff will be in contact with all students living on campus to schedule a time to move in for the winter semester.

The dates Missions Conference 2021 will remain on February 2^nd and 3^rd.

2020 – 2021 Campus Protocols

Revised October 29, 2020

“Our team has spent months praying and planning for this upcoming year. In spite of the challenges caused by the pandemic, we are asking God to do “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).” – President Dr. Rick Reed

Heritage College & Seminary has just released its safety protocols for the 2020-2021 Academic Year. It’s our deep desire that this year at Heritage will be a time of spiritual impact and physical safety.

To read the 2020-2021 Campus Protocols document, please click the link below to download the PDF:

2020-2021 Academic Year Campus Protocols – Updated January 18, 2021

Important Links

Cambridge COVID-19 Assessment Centre – 226-895-1050

215 Holiday Inn Drive

Hours of Operation: Monday to Friday 8:30am – 8:30pm; Saturday, Sunday and Holidays 8:30am-4:30pm