Premier Unveils $50-million New NSCC Campus

The new five storey, glass-enclosed Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) metro campus will bring 1,800 students to the Dartmouth waterfront, starting in 2007. Details and features were outlined today, June 14, by Premier John Hamm and Ray Ivany, president of NSCC.

"Investments in learning are investments in a strong economy and personal self-fulfillment," said Premier Hamm. "The new NSCC campus will create seats for 1,000 more Nova Scotians to get the education and training they need to be successful in learning and in life."

The new metro campus is part of a $123-million investment in the NSCC announced by the province last spring -- the largest single investment made by the provincial government. Renovation and construction projects are underway at NSCC campuses in Port Hawkesbury, Kentville, Stellarton, Truro, Yarmouth, Springhill, and Dartmouth (Akerley).

"Compared to the rest of Canada, college is a newer educational option in Nova Scotia, and it is an essential one in order to ensure a diverse Nova Scotia labour market with all of the skills required for our growing economy," said Ray Ivany, president, NSCC. "In fact, 40 of the 50 fastest growing occupations in Nova Scotia can be achieved with college education. The progress of college development is exciting -- it will support Nova Scotia's economic viability, and in the process, modernize thinking about college education, and profile the contribution it makes to the economy, students and communities."

Construction for the new campus will begin in August and the structure will be ready for occupancy in 2007. The $50-million, 267,000 square foot, five-level building will accommodate 1,800 students enrolled in programming from NSCC's five academic schools -- access, applied arts and new media, business, health and human services, and trades and technology.

The new Metro Campus will be located on the slopes of the Dartmouth waterfront, with access to the campus from Pleasant Street. An entrance on the south side of the building will provide convenient access from a path leading to the Woodside ferry, a five-minute walk from the campus. The five-level building is designed to take full advantage of harbour views with extensive use of glass on the harbour side.

The campus devotes the best spaces and the best views to students and their learning, including a large learning commons and library. Most of the mature trees on the Pleasant Street side of the campus will be preserved in a park-like setting, and there will be an outdoor terrace on the harbour side of the building adjacent to the cafeteria.

The contribution of college is well documented by graduate success rates, including the fact that 95 per cent of employed NSCC graduates are living and working in Nova Scotia.
Through links with industry, NSCC has modified over 50 per cent of its more than 100 programs in the last five years, to help address the skills shortage in the province.

By 2007, 10,000 students will enter the college every year, at its 13 campuses.

College development planning has been underway since 2001. A steering committee consulted with students, staff, faculty and communities to collect input and ideas on NSCC's future direction, and develop a master plan.

This investment is part of the province's Skills Nova Scotia initiative which involves training and skills upgrading, from basic literacy to the use of the most sophisticated technologies.