Wayne Cormier couldn't think of a better way to finish his tenure as chairman of a Parry Sound community advisory committee lobbying to establish a stand-alone campus of Canadore College in town.
The Georgian Bay community's long wait for a permanent branch campus of North Bay's Canadore College will become reality with news of a $6.2-million investment from Ottawa and Queen's Park.
Federal Industry Minister and Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Tony Clement and Ontario's Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, John Milloy, made the joint announcement May 26. They are drawing money from each government's infrastructure programs.
“The dream has come true,” said an elated Cormier, a local businessman and community leader who has been pushing for a more permanent college campus for 25 years. “This is fantastic.”
A final site hasn't yet been determined but will be announced within days, said Canadore president and CEO Barbara Taylor.
Tenders for an architect have been released and its fully anticipated that ground will be broken this fall.
“We are committed to getting a shovel in the ground by September,”
With a rush to spend government infrastructure money within two years, “We'll be expediting our processes as much as possible,” said Taylor.
Besides being thankful for the funding, Taylor said the campus would not have happened without the “huge community support” from Parry Sound.
Canadore's current satellite campus in Parry Sound is in a small 3,700-square-foot leased space on the upper floors of the Taylor building downtown.
The current downtown digs serve the equivalent of 52 full-time students.
“We anticipate with the type of programming expansion that within a two to three year period we will double that and opportunity to go beyond that,” said Taylor.
A new 10,000-square-foot campus will offer expanded programming geared to skilled trades, health sciences, and the hospitality sector, all identified in a community development needs study released last year.
Cormier said there's already a solid partnership between Canadore and the West Parry Sound Health Centre on their nursing and personal support worker programs.
“It's so difficult to get nurses in our area, so it's better if we can grow our own.”
Taylor said their two-year practical nursing program in Parry Sound began in 2007 and enrolment is expected to double this fall with 32 students already signed up. There are plans for the fall of 2010 to partner with Nipissing University in offering a bridging program toward a bachelor of science in nursing.
There's also a tremendous need for skills in all fields of construction.
“We're looking to expand what we do in the building trades,” said Taylor, “and we'll be looking at the whole hospitality and tourism sector in culinary training or hotel, restaurant management training.”
The new campus will offer room for future expansion and will be built along LEED Silver design standards to maximize energy efficiency. All the rooms will be multi-purpose to allow for changing program needs. But they will be careful not to duplicate any shop or lab facilities they use at the local high school.
Taylor said there will be an emphasis on creating a “superior learning environment.”
