From left, Don Lovisa, president Durham College, and the Honourable John Milloy, minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, unveil an artist's rendering of the $9 million expansion plans for the Skills Training Centre at the Whitby campus.
Expansion plans for the Durham College Skills Training Centre recently received a big financial boost from the provincial government.
The Honourable John Milloy, minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, announced on July 2 that the provincial government has pledged a $9 million investment in the centre's expansion plans. Minister Milloy was joined by Joe Dickson, MPP for Ajax-Pickering and Wayne Arthurs, MPP for Pickering-Scarborough East, for the announcement.
"We are so pleased with the provincial government's confidence and investment in our exciting expansion plans," said Don Lovisa, president of Durham College. "This grant will provide more students than ever before with access to Durham College's exceptional hands-on training and education, helping them fulfill their professional goals upon graduation. In addition, it will allow us to introduce a new cluster of programs focused on the energy industry - a rapidly growing sector here in Durham Region and Ontario - and complete energy retrofits and efficiencies that will turn the centre itself into a teaching laboratory."
The first phase of the expansion is expected to be completed in 2010, and will add 20,000-square-feet of space to the facility. With this expansion, Durham College hopes to welcome more than 1,000 additional students to its numerous skilled trades programs within five years of its completion.
Since 2002, Durham College has received more than $16 million from the provincial government to update its training equipment and build, maintain and improve its facilities. This most recent funding is part of the government's three-year, $1.5-billion Skills to Jobs Action Plan.
"Meeting the demand for highly-skilled workers in Ontario will strengthen our economy and help improve everyone's quality of life," said Minister Milloy.