Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College in Barry’s Bay, Ont., is continuing to push forward in the world of Catholic education, refusing to settle upon its recent growth, with new initiatives and opportunities for students, both current and future. 

Driving the recent momentum is Patrick Craine, the private Catholic liberal arts college’s first alumnus president, who assumed the role back in July of 2025. Since taking the reins, Seat of Wisdom’s homegrown leadership has been at the forefront of an admittedly “exciting time” for the college. 

“ It has been a real privilege because this school is something like home for me. My wife and I are both alumni of the college, and it was so important and impactful to us that we ended up choosing to move back here and raise our family here in Barry’s Bay despite us both being from out east and in Halifax,” Craine revealed to The Catholic Register.

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The college, he says, is central to the love his family has for the community, growing out of a strong Catholic structure and having built it up since he first attended as a student.  He’s not alone, as there has been a notable influx of alumni returning to work at their alma mater, seen in the school’s director of development, dean of students and director of enrollment in particular. 

Recently, Seat of Wisdom launched the “Into the Desert” Lent podcast series with Craine as host. Composed of short reflections across two to three episodes each week during Lent, the project is focused on exploring the Biblical, historical and liturgical meanings of Lent.

“My thinking is this podcast is an entry into Seat of Wisdom, being able to offer some of the fruits and work we're doing to share beyond our own community, to help people in the broader Canadian Church get to know who we are,” he said. 

Earlier this year, the college also held its inaugural vocations fair as a way to expose students, many of whom find themselves at a key discernment age, to a variety of vocations and prepare them for God's mission in their lives. 

On the back of the fair's success in January, Craine shared that the college is developing more intentional support for priestly discernment specifically. Last year, the school’s senate approved "Philosophical Foundations for Theology," a package of their philosophy programs to meet seminary philosophical studies requirements. 

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 This discernment program would also offer students the opportunity to commit to a more structured process that would help with the discernment process while being guided by a chaplain throughout. 

Additional academic developments include the launch of a four-year Bachelor of Arts program last year, with the first graduations taking place last May. With current majors in history, literature and classical and early Christian studies, Craine revealed he is looking ahead to adding further majors for the college’s four-year program. 

“ What we need to do now is look at how we can offer the chance to focus on philosophy and theology, and so we are in the process of working on a program that would allow for that as well. We hope to apply for that within the next year, ideally,” he said. 

As for prospective students, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom invited them to experience their tucked-away campus through its first yearly Come and Visit weekend, which concludes March 8. 

Those enticed by the prospect of the school’s growing Catholic higher education would join the significant recent growth Craine has seen at the college. Last year, enrolment sat around 95 students, rising to around 110 this year — impressive figures for a private college, with tentative anticipation of further growth next year as well. 

While increasing numbers improve overall financial sustainability, the real joy is seeing the expanded mission of the college impact as many people as possible. 

“We want to help people understand what we're offering so they can see the opportunity for themselves and the growth that they can achieve by coming here. There are so many opportunities that young people have for growth in their faith, but it is unique to get the depth of formation that you find here — potentially four years of full-time academic formation in the tradition of our faith that is spiritual, moral and human,” Criane said. 

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“From my own experience, I can say that I don't think there's really anything else like it.”