CBBC Career College: 62 years and 15,000 students later we’re proud to be the go-to college in Cape Breton!
January 11, 2021
CBBC has a long and distinguished history educating students on Cape Breton Island. In fact, if you ask any Cape Bretoner about the “business college” they’ll know right away that you mean CBBC! But, we’re a lot more than just a business college and we’ve expanded from our roots on the island.
For all of you folks in Halifax and Dartmouth that may not be as familiar with CBBC, here’s the story of our 62 years (and 15,000 students!). It’s a good one, one that shows our dedication to innovation and our passion for providing the best education possible for our students!
Cape Breton Business College
When first founded, CBBC Career College was known simply as ‘Cape Breton Business College’. it was founded on Cape Breton Island in Sydney in 1958 by former teachers Ronald MacArthur and Edward Currie. Ronald and Edward were high school teachers who taught together at Riverview High School in Sydney River, Nova Scotia. They both left their positions at Riverview to found Cape Breton Business College in 1958.
Originally a secretarial school located in the Azar building in Sydney, Cape Breton Business College offered courses in office administration, medical secretarial, and legal secretarial training.
For 34 years Edward and Arthur ran the school. When they decided to retire in 1992, Ronald’s son Brian MacArthur took over as owner and principal of the school.
Under Brian’s care Cape Breton Business College school grew significantly between 1999 and 2005. Ten additional programs were added! Some of these programs were nationally accredited which greatly grew the school’s reach. Notable programs include Dental Assisting (accredited through the Commission of Dental Accreditation Canada) and Pharmacy Technician (accredited through the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs).
In 2010, Cape Breton Business College expanded to offer courses in cosmetics and aesthetics, opening their second campus location, Aspirations Training Salon. This is where we continue to train aestheticians and hair stylists today!
The birth of CBBC Career College
With the expansion out of offering business programs exclusively, the college needed a new name (no one wants to go to hair stylist classes in a business school!). CBBC Career College was born!
This new name was also useful given the expansion out of Sydney and Cape Breton and into Halifax and surrounding areas! The Dartmouth campus opened offering the same programs as Sydney, but it quickly expanded. Shortly after the Dartmouth campus opened, an additional training salon, Regency Training Salon, was also opened
In 2018, CBBC Career College was purchased by Summit2 who proudly owns and operates the school today!
It’s time to gain new skills with CBBC Career College!
So that’s a little bit more about us. We’re extremely proud of our 62 years and look forward to many more years of educating the best and brightest that Nova Scotia has to offer!
If you’re interested in learning more about CBBC, or in attending our classes now is the time to get started!. We’re enrolling students in a variety of programs and would love to chat with you! Visit our website to learn more and to get started today.
What Our Graduates Are Saying
I highly recommend CBBC Career College to anyone interested in pursuing what they have to offer. They have gone far to support all the students in my class in pursuing their goals. I have been very satisfied with my experience at the college.
Thom H. Boehm
Continuing Care Assistant Program
