[UPDATED: Jan. 27, 2022] Assiniboine Community College (ACC) has its first major funding commitment from the provincial government for the promised Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.
Premier Heather Stefanson on Jan. 17 announced the province would provide up to $10 million for the project, which ACC has said will become the new hub for agriculture and ag-related programs at the college.
“We know there is a real need in our agriculture sector where projections show one in five jobs could go unfulfilled by 2029,” she said. “Right here in Brandon, Assiniboine Community College is offering a solution. Their proposed Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture will provide innovative and collaborative programing with graduates entering new jobs in our farms and food processing plants.”
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The college announced the centre in 2020 as part of plans to drastically increase ag-related student spaces and course offerings. The college plans to jumpstart those programs from under 300 spaces currently to 800.
Along with existing programs such as agribusiness and communications engineering technology, the college has a list of new courses that will come with the centre, including mechatronics, chemical technology and food science. There will also be more capacity for applied research.
It also plans more industry involvement in the development of the expanded curriculums and potential partnerships in applied research.
Fundraising
Assiniboine college has outstripped initial fundraising goals of $10 million in private backing for the $50 million project. As of early January, more than $16.5 million had been committed.
College president Mark Frison says new numbers put the centre’s cost at around $75 million.
“This is one of the exciting things,” he said. “Because of all the enthusiasm that everybody’s shown for it, including the province, we’re thinking a little big.
“For example, one of the things that we’ve been encouraged to think about is whether there should be an early learning centre as part of it. Our current daycare, for example, has a two- to three-year wait list.
“We’re also now looking at how some of those other services can be incorporated. The project might get a little bigger in scope and that’s part of what we’re doing with the resources we’ve got, finalizing that scope.”
Funds from the province will allow the college to clinch the centre’s design and cost and start preparing for tender, Frison said. It hopes to do that planning work through this year and will look for provincial and federal support against the final costs.
“This will help, I think, shape it up in a way that the federal government should be able to make an investment and the province should be able to make their full capital investment and it will also help solidify the rest of our fundraising. This is an incredibly important step in the process,” Frison said.
Once started, construction is expected to take two years, with the centre opening in 2025-26.
Stefanson announced the funds during the opening day of Manitoba Ag Days.
*Update: Comments from Mark Frison and additional background on the announcement were added.
