Northern College received a welcome boost towards commencing the building of a state of the art, integrated emergency services complex yesterday when an $11 million grant from the federal and provincial governments was announced yesterday.
Marc Serre, MP for Nickel Belt and the leader of the Northern Ontario Liberal Caucus, said he was making the announcement on behalf of Navdeep Bains, federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Deb Matthews, Ontario’s minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development.
“I am announcing that today Northern College will be receiving from the federal and provincial governments an investment of $11 million from the joint fund we put together in our budget in 2016.”
According to Serre, this is the single largest funding announcement for the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development in its history and the second largest funding for Northern College in its history,” he said.
“That investment from the partnership of the federal and provincial government will help build the integrated Emergency Services Responder Complex that you have been working very hard over the last few years,” Serre added.
The funding will contribute to the first phase of integrated emergency services responder complex and there will be more in the future.
“The governments of Canada and Ontario are funding the renewal and growths of post-secondary institutions that equip young Canadians with the education and training they need for the future careers that will help them join a strong, healthy middle class,” Serre said.
“Today’s $11 today’s million investment in Northern College will do just that by fostering the training needed for the well-paying middle-class jobs of today and tomorrow, “ he added.
With the funding, Northern College will build a new Integrated Emergency Services Responders Complex at its site in Porcupine, Ontario, which will allow for improved collaboration between the Emergency Services Responders and the community.
“The funding we received today will contribute to building the integrated Emergency Services Complex which will be a signature development for the university for years to come," said Fred Gibbons, the president and chief operating officer of Northern College.
“We expect to break ground on the construction of the complex in the spring of 2017 and open in 2018,” Gibbons added.
The new complex will house training labs and garages, simulation rooms for specialized training and video conference technology, will provide students with an interactive learning environment.
The complex will increase efficiencies resulting from the sharing of the facility, such as the co-sharing of equipment and resources. It will also increase student placement learning as students would have access to new equipment and enhanced hands-on learning o opportunities from Emergency Services Responders.
The addition of the complex will also contribute to the future sustainability of the college through the planned energy efficient designs. The facility is designed to leadership in energy and environmental (LEED) standards.
“It’s a great complex for the city of Timmins,” said Steve Black the Mayor of Timmins, “the college is an integral part of the community.”
The federal and provincial governments will contribute $5.5 million each and Northern College will contribute another$700,000 to the project, for a total project cost of $11.7 million.
“This something we at the city have been working hard for a long time lobbying on behalf of the college,” Black said.
In total, universities and colleges throughout Ontario will receive more than $1.9 billion from the Government of Canada, the provincial government, the institutions themselves and private donors. Federal funding will be 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.
Ontario is making the largest investment in public infrastructure in the province’s history- about $160 billion over 12 years – which is supporting 110,000 jobs every year across the province with projects such as hospitals, schools, roads, bridges and transit., Since 2015, the Province has announced support for more than 475 projects that will keep people and goods moving, connect communities and improve quality of life. To learn more about infrastructure projects in your community, go to www.Ontario.ca/BuildON .
