Georgian College unveiled plans Thursday to expand its Centre for Skilled Trades at its Barrie campus, with an announcement of $2.5 million in funding and grants toward the project.
With a $1.5-million funding commitment from the County of Simcoe and a $1-million grant from The Gene Haas Foundation, the college says it's working toward transforming an existing space within the centre and also creating 20,000 square feet of additional space.
Once completed, the "state-of-the-art" facility will support the development of a “future-ready” skilled trades workforce that is capable in robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced digital technologies.
The project is described as being in line with the county's economic development strategies to grow and support the skilled trades, and meet the needs of the regional workforce.
The announcement brings the County of Simcoe’s total investment in Georgian College to more than $10 million over the past decade.
Georgian College currently offers more than three dozen skilled trades programs across its Barrie, Midland, Muskoka and Owen Sound campuses, including a mix of diplomas, certificates and apprenticeship training.
The facility in Barrie alone will support approximately 1,000 students each academic year, with capacity to welcome more, officials say.
“For almost 60 years, Georgian has been an experienced and trusted workforce development partner, and we know how important the skilled trades are to a variety of sectors in our region,” said Kevin Weaver, president and CEO of Georgian College.
“The skilled trades are one of our areas of strength, and to continue being responsive to industry needs and to offer our students an unrivalled skilled trades learning environment, we need to modernize our centre to meet the challenges of industry," he added.
The Gene Haas Foundation, an industry partner, also announced their $1-million grant toward the “largest immersive learning space” within the future expanded Centre for Skilled Trades, an advanced machining lab.
At present, the machining lab supports students from five post-secondary school programs and three apprenticeship programs.
Georgian College boasts international recognition for its excellence in machining and computer numerical control (CNC) training.
CNC refers to the computerized operation of machining tools used in manufacturing.
Recent Georgian alumnus Ethan McCallum competed at the 2024 WorldSkills Competition in Lyon, France and achieved record-breaking success for Team Canada.
Closer to home, student Jeanette McCron welcomed the expansion news.
“As a student, I can confidently say that the Centre for Skilled Trades expansion will greatly enhance students' ability to succeed with state-of-the-art equipment and a modern learning environment,” she said during the announcement.
“Students will be able to prepare for the demands of the industry, seeing as the industry is rapidly evolving and growing, and everybody is working so hard towards that goal,” McCron added.
