Alberta invests in trades training

The government of Alberta has announced a $300-million dollar investment for the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Polytechnic to break ground next year on a Trades and Technology complex. This is expected to open up 3,600 new training spaces to students.

“This funding announcement is a tangible demonstration of the government’s vision for the future and its clear, long-term plan to secure Alberta’s continued success,” says Irene Lewis, SAIT’s president and CEO. “Today’s investment will provide increased educational options for future students and will be welcomed news for business and industry hungry for more skilled, knowledgeable workers.”

 The complex will provide multi-disciplinary programming in high-demand sectors of energy, construction and manufacturing. When completed, complex’ 3,600 new spaces in will engage 8,100 more students each year in hands-on, career-oriented training. This represents a 50 per cent increase in the number of apprenticeship spaces and a nearly 30 per cent increase for certificate, diploma and applied degree spaces.

It will be approximately 600,000 sq ft in size. The total estimated cost is $445-million. Major corporations have already invested more than $26-million in it.