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Paramedic students told to wait

Last Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | 12:45 PM AT

Holland College has cancelled a paramedic program it hoped to start in western P.E.I. in January, forcing registered students to wait for the next offering in Charlottetown in September.

Heidi Coffin had already told her boss she was moving to Summerside.Heidi Coffin had already told her boss she was moving to Summerside. (CBC)

Heidi Coffin, one of 30 students enrolled in the program, already told her boss she was leaving at the end of the year, and was looking for housing in Summerside for this January.

"I let my boss know at the airport that I'd have to be moving to Summerside and I had gone looking for houses in Summerside," Coffin told CBC News Monday.

Dave Beaton, the college's director of programs, said it underestimated the cost of running the program by 50 per cent, so had to cancel it.

"We had expected it would probably come in around $250,000, and in fact it came in closer to $500,000," said Beaton.

"There was just no way we could make a sound business decision to continue on and run the program, unfortunately."

The college is offering students a chance to get into the program in September 2010 instead of January, meaning they would graduate almost a year later than expected.

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