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$10-million investment will support students, create jobs and expand programs. Canadians will be better equipped for the well-paying middle-class jobs of today and tomorrow as a result of a $10-million investment in College of the Rockies for a new trades-training facility.

This joint federal-provincial investment was announced by the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett on behalf of B.C. Minister of Advanced Education Andrew Wilkinson.

The funding will support the construction of a new trades-training facility to consolidate and increase capacity by 43 new full-time equivalent spaces for a total of 325 full-time equivalent spaces for electrical, millwright and heavy-duty equipment technician programs.

The new trades-training facility will be 1,800 square-metres (19,400 square feet) with a 3,400 square metre (36,600 square foot) trades yard and an engine lab for the heavy-duty equipment mechanic and technician, and automotive-service technician programs. The new building will be designed to LEED Gold standard making it more energy efficient.

Of the total $10-million investment:

• $4.2 million from the Government of Canada.


• $3.8 million from the Province of B.C.


• $1 million from the College of the Rockies.


• $1 million from the Columbia Basin Trust.

The Government of Canada's Innovation Agenda aims to make this country a global centre for innovation - one that creates jobs, drives growth across all industries and improves the lives of all Canadians. This investment is a prime example of that vision in action.

The funding from the Government of Canada is being allocated through the Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund, which will enhance and modernize research facilities on Canadian campuses and improve the environmental sustainability of these facilities.

As a result of these investments, students, professors and researchers will work in state-of-the-art facilities. They will collaborate in specially designed spaces that support lifelong learning and skills training. They will work in close proximity with partners to turn discoveries into products or services. In the process, they will train for and invent the high-value jobs of the future. And their discoveries will plant the seeds for the next generation of innovators.

The new building project at College of the Rockies is estimated to be completed in spring 2018. Approximately 35 direct and 21 indirect jobs are expected to be created as a result of the project.

College of the Rockies offers a range of continuing education, developmental, career and vocational, trades and technologies and academic programs. The college welcomed more than 10,150 students during the 2014-15 academic year, including 387 international students. The college celebrated its 40th anniversary in February 2016.

Original article from: College of the Rockies

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