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Weekly UpdatesThe provincial and federal governments are injecting billions in stimulus dollars to keep our economic heartbeat from flat-lining.
Many Northern Ontario colleges and universities are seeing this as the perfect time to ask for major funding to complete much needed infrastructure projects.
"Construction provides immediate value, employment and stimulus to the economy," said Fred Gibbons, interim president of Northern College in Timmins.
With the downturn in the economy there is a need to re-tool the workforce, he said. "Over the long term the graduates of (post-secondary) programs are the future workforce."
Most of the colleges and universities in the North have submitted applications for new buildings, modernization efforts, and deferred maintenance. They expect to get responses by May at the latest. "We recognize it's a wonderful opportunity to contribute to our needs and help the economy," said president of Lakehead University Fred Gilbert, in Thunder Bay who is asking for funding to complete four projects.
One of the most interesting infrastructure projects being planned is a $16 million Integrated Emergency Services complex near Northern College's Timmins campus.
The City of Timmins was looking to move their emergency services, Gibbons said, explaining when the city heard of the college's plans for a new emergency training complex they saw an opportunity to create a regional hub of emergency services.
"Essentially under one roof you have professionals working, and in that same building you have students learning those particular trades," he said.
"Working in such close proximity our students will have built in access to placements, built in access to equipment and technology we could never in our wildest dream afford to own.
When students take programs in the technology cluster they need to be working on next generation technology" Gibbons said, "and it's always a challenge for community colleges to keep pace."
The benefits go both ways. If the City of Timmins built their own fire hall they wouldn't be able to include the classroom and training labs, Gibbons said.
"What we bring to the table is also of great interest to the professionals and volunteers working in the facility."
Smaller projects on the Northern College wish list include; an $8 million trade school centre in Timmins, modernization efforts for a veterinarian science centre at the Hailey-bury campus, a facility to support the natural resource program located in Coleman Township, expanded lab space and technology upgrades at the Kirkland Lake welding engineering program, and ongoing differed maintenance projects.
The region's largest institution, Laurentian University in Sudbury is struggling to manage a space crunch.
"The university has grown by leaps and bounds over the past five or so years. It has almost doubled in size (in population), and this has brought a need for expanded space," said Laurentian University vice-president of administration Robert Bourgeois.
In the past few years Laurentian has welcomed an English language school of education, a new athletic centre, and a residence building, Bourgeois explained, but it requires more infrastructure developments.
"We are looking at a total of 10 new projects."
These projects are split between new facilities, modernization projects and maintenance deferral work, Bourgeois explained.
"We are hoping we will get funding from the federal government to cover all three categories of projects - three or four new buildings and four modernization projects," he said, "and hopefully the province will match the federal funds."
For Lakehead University approved government funding could help usher in a new era for the school.
"We have applied for funding to help us establish the first building on the permanent site of our Orillia campus," Gilbert said.
The largest item on Lakehead's to do list is a rebuild of the Braun Building, the oldest facility on campus, which was damaged by fire in July 2008, Gilbert said. The Thunder Bay institution is also asking for dollars to help replace the Voice Over Internet Protocal (VOIP) system and some other technology upgrades in class rooms, research labs and teaching environments.
Lakehead also tossed in a funding application for their "green chemistry" research facility NORD 21.
"It was worth sticking it in and it meets all the criteria," Gilbert said, explaining they are still waiting to hear about possible dollars from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.
Research facilities, chillers, transforming portables into a suitable art building, and a $40 million health sciences complex are all on the Cambrian College needs and wants list, said president Sylvia Barnard.
Cambrian has half of the $8 million required for the research and development sustainable energy centre, she said. "We've asked the government for the other $4 million to complete the project."
The Sudbury college is also hoping the federal government will kick in to help complete the $3 million final phase of a skills expansion arts centre.
"We have a commitment from the provincial government, we have our own dollars and now we are hoping the federal government will contribute," Barnard said.
Cambrian is also looking to replace the college's "chillers," the campuses outdated air conditioning system.
"We already started the project. We have our half the money in and we're hoping the governments will chip in the other half."
Cambrian College's big ticket item, a brand new health sciences building, weighs in at $40 million.
"The building would congregate all of our health sciences programs and allow us to expand those programs by about 300 students," Barnard said, explaining it will also have commercial and community health care space, as well as research and teaching facilities.
"We are trying to attract students from outside of Northern Ontario. If we can bring students in from outside Northern Ontario to study, they tend to stay and work in Northern Ontario. It's a strategy to attract more health care professionals to the North," she said.
All these post-secondary institution in Northern Ontario have submitted their funding applications and now have their fingers crossed.
"We should know no later than May from the federal government," Bourgeois said. "This will allow us to capitalize on the construction season."
Northern College has "shovel ready projects that will commence no later than the fall, Gibbons said.
"The later the announcements comes, the more challenging it is getting projects started in the fall and you drive up construction costs with winter construction."
With this round of government dollars attached to a March 2011 project completion deadline, it really is the sooner the better.
"When ever we do get a response it will he very challenging to meet the deadline," Bourgeois added.
www.lakeheadu.ca
www.laurentian.ca
By JAMES NEELEY
Northern Ontario Business
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