April 8, 2009
Released by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
Industry Canada
$7.22M in upgrades to Canada Education Park
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Chuck Strahl, MP for Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon,
along with Barry Penner, MLA for Chilliwack-Kent,
and John Les, MLA for Chilliwack-Sumas, congratulate
UFV president Skip Bassford after announcing
$7.22 million in funding to help upgrade the new
Chilliwack campus at the Canada Education Park.
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CHILLIWACK – An investment of $7.22 million from the federal and provincial governments will improve the Canada Education Park campus of the University of the Fraser Valley, creating close to 46 direct jobs.
Chuck Strahl, MP for Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon, along with John Les, MLA for Chilliwack-Sumas and Barry Penner MLA for Chilliwack-Kent, made the announcement today.
“We are making these investments in education today to create jobs now and to ensure our long-term prosperity,” said Strahl. “Our government has acted quickly and decisively to help keep Canadians moving forward.”
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.
Work at the Canada Education Park will renovate a building at the former Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack, which will allow the north campus of the University of the Fraser Valley to be sold and programs to move to the education park.
“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. Province-wide these projects will create almost 3,000 direct jobs”
“The university is a very important institution for our region,” said Les. “We have worked hard to secure the funding needed to help with the growth of our Chilliwack campus. This latest announcement furthers our commitment to enhancing post-secondary education in the region. The project will also bring jobs to the community and this comes at a time when creating employment is essential to the local economy.”
“This project will help continue the tremendous transformation we are witnessing in the Fraser Valley with the establishment of UFV,” said Penner. “We are dramatically increasing options for students in the region with the Canada Education Park, by bringing classrooms closer to home. This allows more local residents to access top-notch programs offered through the university. As someone who attended this school years ago, I think this is excellent news.”
The $7.22 million renovation project at the Canada Education Park is scheduled to begin next month and is expected to generate close to 46 direct 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. The total investment in these projects is $455 million including contributions from institutions. 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.
“The Canada Education Park is a wonderful example of cooperation that involves several significant federal and provincial agencies as well as post-secondary educational institutions,” said Skip Bassford, president and vice-chancellor of UFV. “It's a major project for the City of Chilliwack that will draw human and economic capital into the eastern Fraser Valley. Having the infrastructure funding in place is key for UFV to add to its current footprint on the new site. Our Trades & Technology Centre has been operational there for more than a year now and has set the stage for the build-out of the remainder of the campus. We are very grateful to our local MLAs and our MPs for consistently supporting UFV in our development plans for this 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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