NAIT paused its only-in-Canada court reporting diploma; dozens of students left without a path to finish

NAIT paused its two-year captioning and court reporting diploma program in September 2025, the only program of its kind in Canada. The one-year certificate option continues, but dozens of students enrolled in the two-year track found themselves unable to finish.

Adrienne Alexander, a former tattoo artist, was partway through when the pause hit. "I was relying on it. Like, I left a career behind," she said. "I took all that time off and saved up all my money … so this is huge." After the pause, Alexander worked in a different field because she couldn't find a job in stenography without the diploma. "I don't have the skills to get a job. So for people who have families relying on them, like, that's so much worse," she said.

Rose Mackis enrolled in January 2025. One month into her classes, she learned the program was pausing. Students were told they had until August to finish one year of coursework to qualify for the second year. "It's not knowledge-based the way that most programs are. You have to build the skill. But NAIT is basically saying that we don't get to make our own choices," Mackis said.

Alexander and Mackis estimate 20 to 30 students in each cohort were affected. Most, they say, haven't found related work. Both believe affected students should be compensated. "Just give us back our tuition, man. Like bare minimum. I think we just deserve our tuition back. It's not enough to make up for damages, like the true damage that this has caused," Alexander said.

NAIT's review found declining enrolment, low graduate numbers, and high costs drove the pause, which affected 18 programs total. The institution said in a statement that all students enrolled in second year before the fall 2025 pause had the opportunity to finish. NAIT did not address the possibility of tuition refunds.

Lyndsey Bilocerkowec, owner of Bespoke Reporting Services, is concerned about the impact on Alberta's court reporting industry. Most law firms hiring court reporters require applicants to type around 225 words per minute at 95 per cent accuracy—a skill rare for people with only a court transcription certificate.