Niagara’s post-secondary institutions have access to top-of-the-line technology and learning tools thanks to an investment from the provincial government totalling almost $1 million.
Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff made the announcement Friday (March 31) at Niagara College’s Welland Campus.
“By investing in the renewal and modernization of post-secondary infrastructure, our government is supporting the growth of the regional economy right here in Niagara and ensuring local students get the knowledge and skills they need to get good-paying jobs,” Oosterhoff said.
Niagara College received $825,000 from the provincial College Equipment and Renewal Fund, and the college also made a $829,560 contribution.
That money has been used to purchase industry-standard programmable logic controllers (PLC) which are computers used for industrial automation, process automation and mechatronics workstations, and mixed-reality headsets.
Brock University received $174,800 from the province’s Training Equipment and Renewal Fund. In addition to the government funding, the university made a $262,262 contribution to make improvements to the Nursing Clinical Simulation Lab and purchase lifelike patient simulators used to represent real-world nursing scenarios.
Sean Kennedy, president of Niagara College, and Dr. Lesley Rigg, president and vice-chancellor of Brock University expressed their gratitude for the provincial investment made in both schools. The investment will help prepare graduates for lucrative, in-demand careers in technology.
“Their investment will help to make a significant impact on student learning at Niagara College as we continue to train skilled tech professionals for the careers of the future,” Kennedy said.