About Us
Wellington College is one of the oldest, continuously operating massage therapy training centres in Canada.
The school was founded on the principles and programs of England’s Northern Institute of Massage, a venerable massage training program set up by H.E. Prince in Manchester in 1924.
1970s
When the city of Calgary, Alberta, sought to license massage practitioners, it turned to the Northern Institute to help establish training programs and industry guidelines. As a result, the Institute established a Canadian branch in 1972, under the direction of Ken Woodward and Stan Duncombe. At the invitation of the Saskatchewan Masseurs Association (SMA), Ken Woodward moved the Institute’s operations to Regina to help upgrade the association’s standards. In 1977, Abe Reimer and Don Bennett, the SMA’s president, established Abe & Don Enterprises, to begin the process of improving standards for Saskatchewan’s massage therapists. The program operated in rented rooms at Regina’s YMCA.
1980s
Because the program was growing, more permanent facilities were set up across the street from the YMCA. By the mid-80s, the school’s training had become recognized enough for the Plains Health Centre to provide space in return for training its nurses in massage. It was during this period that Randy Ellingson joined the school as an instructor and administrator.
In 1987, to better reflect the professional training for which it had become known, the program changed its name to the Western College of Remedial Massage Therapies Inc. As a result, the College became Saskatchewan’s first private vocational school for massage. That same year, the school responded to a request from the Massage Therapy Association of Manitoba to help upgrade the skills of its members. The College established a pilot project at St. Boniface General Hospital in Winnipeg and in 1988, the training facility became the first registered private vocational school for massage in Manitoba.
1990s
In 1992, Randy Ellingson was developing curriculum based on the medical model of osteopathy. To take the College to the next level of professional operation, he took ownership of the business and its programs. The College moved to a new, 5,000 square foot facility on Halifax Street in Regina. After establishing an advisory board and enhancing the school’s staff with experienced instructors, Ellingson called on colleague Wayne Baiton to take over the Regina-based school while he focused on the Manitoba operation. In 1994, Ellingson launched a new program in Winnipeg that incorporated therapeutic massage and fitness. The school moved into a 9,000 square foot facility on Main Street in Winnipeg under a new name, Wellington College of Remedial Massage Therapies Inc. With its fresh programming, Wellington College offered comprehensive training in massage therapy, sports massage therapy, manual therapy and continued education in the form of annual conferences and workshops.
2000s
In 2000, Wellington College launched its corporate website to establish an informational and promotional presence on the Internet. A year later, the school opened an off-campus massage therapy clinic to complement training for advanced-level students.
In 2004, Randy Ellingson retained sole ownership of Winnipeg’s Wellington College and Wayne Baiton became sole owner of Regina’s Western College. Wellington College also established a series of specialized workshops to replace the school’s annual conference. That same year, the College became the first massage school in Canada to offer Internet training for remedial massage therapy.
Wellington College entered a new era with the opening of a new 11,500 square foot training centre in 2005, on Berry Street in Winnipeg. The facility includes a lecture theatre, classrooms, practical room, fully-equipped fitness centre, library and study room, office space and lounge for staff and administrative personnel and a roomy student lounge. Today, the College offers a variety of programs – a two-year, full-time diploma course in remedial massage therapy, a one-year distance education remedial massage course (focused on relaxation massage), an additional two-year, advanced remedial massage therapy course, also provided through distance education, and a Bachelor of Remedial Massage Therapy degree program, the first of its kind in Canada.
