College of Ontario

PAULINE TAM
Ottawa Citizen
June 24, 2008

The Ontario government has handed Algonquin College the $35 million it needs to build a state-of-the-art training centre devoted to the skilled trades - the first phase in a proposed $136-million campus expansion.

Premier Dalton McGuinty, who made skills training a centrepiece of his government's March budget, made the long-awaited announcement Monday.

"This is the single largest investment Ontarians have made in Algonquin College, and we're proud to do so," Mr. McGuinty said during a visit to the college.

When combined with the $22 million that Algonquin has amassed through reserve funds, the provincial funding is expected to cover the bulk of the $69 million needed for the building, which is scheduled to be completed by 2011.

The centre, billed as the country's first teaching facility for environmentally friendly construction practices, would create 600 new student spots, allowing Algonquin to boost enrolment in construction-related programs to 2,500.

Construction officials said the expansion will enhance the image of the skilled trades and attract more students. What's more, the new facility would, for the first time, allow the college to house all its construction programs under one roof, providing an incentive for various trades to work more closely together.

"This is going to bring a more team-based design approach to our industry," said John DeVries, president of the Ottawa Construction Association.

Yesterday's announcement was the culmination of a year-long lobbying campaign by Algonquin, which has been seeking support from all levels of government for the building.

Algonquin officials have maintained that the college is so tight for space that it is turning away students who want to train in the construction trades. The college has also used the prospect of a looming skills shortage to mount a push for government support.

The campaign appears to have revitalized a program that, only a few years ago, was on life support.

"Five years ago, we were deciding, do we stay in the trades?" said Algonquin president Robert Gillett. "And we had some very long, hard discussions about that because we had facilities that we felt didn't represent the training that we wanted to do for the future."

Mr. Gillett said the funding allows Algonquin to go ahead with building plans, even as it continues to push for federal money. The college is using its proposed green architecture program to lobby Environment Minister John Baird, who is also MP for the riding in which Algonquin is located.

Mr. Baird said his department does not provide direct funding for capital projects, but he pledged to ensure that Algonquin receives its share of money through federal infrastructure grants or transfers for post-secondary education.

"I'm prepared to do whatever I can for the college," said Mr. Baird.

The trades building is considered the cornerstone of a campus expansion that would also include a $35-million building to train health workers and $32 million for a new Pembroke campus. Both projects are still awaiting provincial funding.

To make room for the trades and health buildings, the City of Ottawa has donated more than 1.5 hectares of prime land, worth $3.2 million, on the west side of Woodroffe Avenue. It has also agreed to fund a $5-million bridge over Woodroffe.

The City of Pembroke has also committed six hectares of land, worth $1 million, for the planned expansion of the Ottawa Valley campus.