April 8, 2009
A $12.7-million investment by the federal and provincial governments will expand and upgrade buildings at the College of the Rockies in Cranbrook and create over 80 direct jobs.
Jim Abbott, MP for Kootenay-Columbia, along with East Kootenay MLA Bill Bennett, made the announcement today.
“The College of the Rockies is a key player in the growth of our region,” said Abbott. “This funding will allow the college to provide improved service to students and I am proud to be part of ensuring the college’s growth.”
This investment is part of the federal government’s two-year, $2-billion plan to repair and expand research and educational facilities at Canadian post-secondary institutions. The Knowledge Infrastructure Program is helping to provide economic stimulus and promote employment by creating jobs for engineers, architects, tradespeople and technicians. In B.C. the federal government is providing up to 50 per cent of the cost of selected projects on a cost-share basis with the Province.
Expansion of Kootenay Centre, the main building on the college’s Cranbrook campus, will enable the college to discontinue the use of portables housing the University of Victoria Elementary Teacher Education program and move it into the building. The front entrance to the campus and student service areas will also be improved.
“This expansion is a clear sign of our commitment to the growth of the College of the Rockies,” said Bennett. “We want to make the learning experience for all students, teachers and staff as positive as possible and this funding will allow that to happen. At the same time, it will create 80 jobs at a time when every job counts.”
The College of the Rockies offers a range of vocational, career and technology programs as well as the general university studies programs. Programs currently at Kootenay Centre include welding, plumbing, carpentry, dental assisting, health care assistant, computer and web specialist, business education, recreation and tourism, access to education, and university studies arts and sciences.
The $12.7-million investment at the College of the Rockies will generate over 80 direct jobs, with work scheduled to begin at the end of May this year. Work will target gold certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.
“We are grateful to the provincial and federal governments for this significant investment in our College and for their vision in supporting our students,” said College of the Rockies president Dr. Nick Rubidge. “This expansion provides us with a clearly-defined main entrance which will house a much-needed “front of house’ one-stop Student Services area to better serve our students. It also gives us additional classroom space so we can move our UVIC Bachelor of Education students out of a portable building and into our main building, Kootenay Centre.”
This is one of 29 projects at post-secondary institutions across the province that will break ground quickly thanks to a joint federal-provincial investment of $433 million. The total investment in these projects is $455 million including contributions from institutions. This project is also part of an overall $14-billion capital infrastructure program supported by the Province to create jobs and vital public infrastructure in every region of B.C.
Canada’s Economic Action Plan sets out to stimulate the Canadian economy over the next two years and to improve our long-term competitiveness through $12 billion in new infrastructure investment, which includes the $2-billion Knowledge Infrastructure Program.
For more information on the provincial government’s three-year job creation plan, visit www.gov.bc.ca/infrastructure. For more information about the Knowledge Infrastructure Program visit www.ic.gc.ca/knowledge-infrastructure.
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