College expansion still a priority

The lack of a funding allocation in this year's provincial budget for Parkland College's proposed Trades & Technology Centre is another setback for the project, but the college says it remains committed to the idea.

In March, Yorkton MLA Greg Ottenbreit told Yorkton This Week that the province deemed funding for the centre premature at this time as the project is still in the planning stage.

According to Parkland College, the Trades & Technology Centre in Yorkton would produce 3,500 skilled graduates over 10 years in specialties such as welding, machining, heavy equipment operation, and power engineering. Existing Parkland campuses lack the room or equipment to train these graduates.

The college is seeking $8-10 million in provincial or combined federal-provincial funding on the $14.9 million project, says Parkland College President Fay Myers. The remainder of the money would come from a local fundraising campaign and a land contribution from the City of Yorkton valued at $2.2 million.

The project now on the table is smaller than the original $24 million proposal released to the public in 2010, which included a health sciences wing and a wellness centre.

"We were told the ask was far too high at that time," says Myers.

But the college has not scaled back its ambitions, the president says, and currently has no plans to do so. It has instead broken the project down into three phases, starting with the current $14.9 million structure focusing on the trade shops and classrooms "desperately needed" to meet the area's labor shortage.

This restructuring sent parts of the project-considered almost shovel-ready in 2010-back to the drawing board, leaving it in its current state too "premature" for funding. The college is now working with industry and with the Ministry of Advanced Education, Employment, and Immigration on identifying the training needs of the region and the province.

While MLA Ottenbreit insists that he remains a devoted believer in the project, the college has so far received no indication that provincial funding for the Trades & Technology Centre is any more likely in next year's budget.

"It's early to tell. But we will continue to push forward," says Myers.

The centre is crucial to the Yorkton/Melville area's future development, maintains Myers, citing skilled worker shortages among 90 percent of trades in the region.

"If we can build this campus, it will also build our community. It will be an attraction for industry because there will be training and education opportunities right here."