DAWSON CREEK – Work on renovating the health sciences building at Northern Lights College’s Dawson Creek campus will go ahead this month with $2.5 million from the provincial and federal governments, creating up to 16 jobs.
Jay Hill, MP for Prince George-Peace River, along with Blair Lekstrom, MLA for Peace River South, announced the funding today.
“This initiative to renew colleges and universities will stimulate the economy in communities throughout B.C.,” said Hill. “The project at Northern Lights College is a great example of how our partnership with the provincial government is allowing us to take immediate action to help regional economies get back on track.”
This investment is part of the federal government’s two-year, $2-billion plan to repair and expand research and educational facilities at Canadian post-secondary institutions. The Knowledge Infrastructure Program is helping to provide economic stimulus and promote employment by creating jobs for engineers, architects, tradespeople and technicians. In B.C. the federal government is providing up to 50 per cent of the cost of selected projects on a cost-share basis with the Province.
The governments are investing $2.5 million to expand spaces for health sciences training, including the college’s practical nursing program. The project is expected to begin at the end of this month and create up to 16 jobs. The renovations will make more room for student nurses at a time when nurses are in demand throughout the province.
“I am very proud to see that the Northern Lights College’s Dawson Creek campus will be receiving funding to expand health services training,” said Lekstrom. “As we face growing populations and increasing demands around the province the need to train and retain medical staff grows. This funding recognizes these demands and is creating the necessary building space to accommodate the training of more nursing students in this region. The B.C. Government has doubled the number of funded nursing seats since we were elected in 2001. It is especially gratifying to see our students have this type of opportunity to receive this training locally.”
“By providing half of all the funding for these projects, we’re able to keep British Columbians working while investing in facilities for our post-secondary institutions,” said Murray Coell, Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development. “We’re directing our resources to where they can produce the biggest and most immediate benefits – creating jobs, stability and confidence for families, and building and renewing campus infrastructure. Provincewide these projects will create almost 3,000 jobs.”
This is one of 29 projects at post-secondary institutions across the province that will break ground quickly thanks to a joint federal-provincial investment of $433 million. This project is also part of an overall $14-billion capital infrastructure program supported by the Province to create jobs and vital public infrastructure in every region of B.C.
“This funding provides a golden opportunity for Northern Lights College to upgrade and expand health sciences training facilities at the Dawson Creek Campus,” said NLC president Jean Valgardson. “A key element of our strategic plan is contributing to sustainable communities in northern British Columbia, and training skilled health care workers is integral to that goal. With top quality facilities, NLC will be able to help develop the special skills needed by health services workers throughout the region.”
Canada’s Economic Action Plan sets out to stimulate the Canadian economy over the next two years and to improve our long-term competitiveness through $12 billion in new infrastructure investment, which includes the $2-billion Knowledge Infrastructure Program.
For more information on the provincial government’s three-year job creation plan, visit www.gov.bc.ca/infrastructure. For more information about the Knowledge Infrastructure Program visit www.ic.gc.ca/knowledge-infrastructure.
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