Conestoga College to open new campus in downtown Guelph | 24CA News
Downtown Guelph will quickly have new neighbours.
Conestoga College introduced that it is going to be opening a brand new campus on Macdonell Street the place the Co-operators insurance coverage, which might be transferring to a brand new workplace in 2024, is at present situated.
The new campus will increase the school’s current campus on Speedvale Avenue West and accommodate one other 5,000 college students plus employees and school.
The faculty might be investing $90 million into the brand new facility with no further funding from the provincial or federal governments.
“We have been trying to do this for 30 years but couldn’t get investments so we had to do this ourselves,” stated Conestoga president John Tibbits, who held a joint news convention with Guelph CAO Scott Stewart at metropolis corridor on Thursday. “We wanted to do it and we knew we had to put money into it if we wanted it to happen.”
Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie, Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield and Guelph MPP and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner have been additionally on the announcement.
“It’s been talked about it for a while,” Guthrie stated, including it’s been the “worst-kept secret.”
“We had to tread lightly as we moved forward because we wanted to make sure we get to this announcement without any hiccups or hurdles.”
The new campus will the brand new house for quite a few Conestoga applications.
“It will be a full-service campus,” Tibbits stated. “Information technology, creative industries, social service, business. There will be a variety of programs.”
According to a news launch from town, Conestoga’s vital funding will help town’s financial improvement and tourism technique by collaborating and addressing rising workforce wants that help Guelph’s precedence financial sectors, together with superior manufacturing, agri-innovation and life sciences.
Guthrie says he’s thrilled with the prospect of a brand new post-secondary establishment within the metropolis’s downtown core.
“It’s a huge win for Guelph,” stated Guthrie. “The fact that you will have 5,000 students coming here, engaging the downtown core, not only for their academic learnings but also contributing to the economic vibrancy of the downtown.”
Tibbit says there aren’t any plans for this campus to accomplice with a serious college right now. The University of Guelph at present has a partnership in place with Humber College.
The new campus is predicted to open in September 2025.
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